How Iori Met Their Mother
by YukiraKing
Summary: A year after the events of Digimon Adventure 03, the children take a trip over to New York to have some fun for one during their summer vacation. How will they handle the new city and who is this girl Iori met while they were there...? Read D03 first
1. New York Bound

**Y/N:**This is your little filler story that catches you up with the characters just a year after their last journey a.k.a. Digimon Adventure 03. The next story, Digimon Adventure 04, will be another two years after this, but this gives you a feel of life without the digital world for these kids. And, who can resist having a bit of fun before going into another long and complicated story, right? I hope you all enjoy this story and tune in for Digimon Adventure 04 when it begins soon!

**U/N:**U/N~ so my sister and i, while planning this story were... well we were watching seasons 5-7 of how i met your mother... which is a great show-go watch it-and that's kind of where this story idea came from as you can... as you can tell. Uhm... that's all i have to say... sorry for the delay in this story and 04... we'll get it up as soon as we can...

**Title:****How Iori Met Their Mother**

**By: Yukira King**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.**

**Part 1: New York Bound!**

_**Iori:**_

"Hey kids," I said, sitting them down on the sofa. "I'm going to tell you a story."

"What kind of story?" Elliot, the small blonde boy asked. He was quite a sporty little boy, seven years old, and was not interested in sitting down for story-time.

His big sister, however, was very interested. She looked up at me with big green eyes. "I hope it's a love story!" she said excitedly. Louisa was just ten years old, and her brown hair curled around her shoulders.

"I hope it's funny," Elliot, said rolling his eyes at her enthusiasm.

"I just hope there's a bit of adventure," Kana, the taller eleven year old girl added. She was ever the practical girl. Her hair matched my own. It was a not very distinctive chestnut brown, though hers reached passed her shoulders. Her eyes were wide, considering all of the possibilities my story could hold.

"Adventure could be cool," Elliot said.

"There's a bit of all of that," I said smiling at him. "This is the story of how I met your mother…"

"Is this going to be anything like Aunt Miyako's love story?" Elliot asked me. "After her whole thing with Ken, and how the froggie umbrella-?"

"No." I said simply. "Just listen."

* * *

><p>It was the summer after we'd saved the Digital World from Apocolymon and the Digimon Sovereign, not to mention those evil crest digimon. I'd taken Meiyomon home with me, and soon he was as big a part of my life as my grandfather. He'd even started taking Kendo lessons with us once a week. He'd handled the transition to human life a lot better than we'd expected. Otamamon had a slightly more difficult time, as Jun Motomiya—Daisuke's sister—was at university most of the year, and vehemently refused to bring Otamamon with her. Otamamon had claimed her as her stand-in digi-destined, but since there were no digi-vices, it wasn't a true partnership.<p>

But summer had come at last, and we were getting ready to take a trip. I'd saved up money that my grandfather and mother had given me for the year, and got an after-school job at the nearest dojo, assisting the instructor with some of the younger children. I saved up every last yen for this trip, and once I'd collected enough, I just kept adding more, so that I could purchase some souvenirs.

We were going to New York. It was going to be a fantastic trip, and would be the first time that we were all together since the summer that Digital World was sealed off to us.

"I can't believe I get to go with you!" Meiyomon said excitedly.

"I can't believe it either…" I grumbled. Mom had paid for most of his ticket, which wasn't really fair. I supposed he really couldn't be expected to get a job though; he did come across as a seven year old.

"I wonder what we will do in this York place that is new," he said happily.

"First, it's New York," I said with a laugh. "And second, Mimi has that all planned out. She, Michael and Willis wanted to show us all of the important sites."

"Wow," Meiyomon said. "You know so much."

"I guess…" I said awkwardly. We were waiting at the entrance of the Airport. No one else had arrived yet. I was hoping they'd arrive soon though, I didn't know how many more strange looks I could handle with Meiyomon's strange questions.

"Hey Iori," a familiar voice called. "Hi Meiyo."

We'd taken to calling Meiyomon 'Meiyo' as a substitute human name while we were in public. It just seemed to result in fewer questions.

"Hello Mr. Jou," Meiyomon said. "Are you going to be awake the _whole_ time today? Or are you going to go to sleep right away?"

"If you'd gone through the year I did, you'd want some sleep too," Jou said a little grumpily. He'd taken on a little more than he could handle I think, when he worked his schedule around to allow him to take his medical school and veterinary school at the same time. Some of the classes overlapped, and he crammed most of the extra ones veterinary school needed into some night school slots. He had school almost all day every day of the week, and used the weekends to sleep and do homework. Needless to say, he didn't get much sleep until the holidays, and even then, he had a lot of homework to catch up on. Summer was his only break, and by then, he could sleep the whole summer away and still not get enough rest.

"You only have four years left," I commented.

"Four years of hell," Jou said with a sigh.

"Hey, not with Meiyo here," I chastised, which made the both of us laugh.

"What's so funny?" Hikari asked sneaking up behind us.

"Didn't you hear, Hikari? It's me," Daisuke said from his spot beside her. She rolled her eyes.

"Is Taichi here yet?" Hikari asked, looking around hoping to catch sight of her brother.

"Not yet," I said.

"He and Yamato were taking the bus to get here," Jou said. "They should be here any minute."

"Thanks," she said.

Taichi, Yamato and Sora had just finished their first year at university, and were bound to be a little testy because of it. Sora had refused to talk to anyone, even Yamato, during the lead up to her exams. She was so stressed out by her business courses, and the added trouble of her tennis games that were a necessary part of her scholarship, she was stretched much too thin. She and Jou were wired very differently.

Yamato and Taichi had chosen each other's courses, so they were understandably struggling with some of it, though they both claimed to be very interested in their studies for the first time since kindergarten. Taichi was going through for business and politics, while Yamato was going through for sciences and maths. Apparently they'd managed to find a career out of them, but they weren't going to share just yet.

"Hey," Daisuke said, interrupting my thoughts. "Here comes Takeru and Miyako."

Sure enough, they walked up side-by-side. "My mom dropped us off," Takeru said. "She had to get to work though, so she's already gone. She'd hoped to see Yamato before she had to leave…"

"He's not even here yet," Meiyomon said happily. "So she didn't miss anything, isn't that great!"

"Sure…" Takeru said.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I could go and cook for you while you're there, so you and your friends don't go hungry," Mrs. Izumi's said, her familiar voice rising about the din of the lobby.

"No mom," Koushiro said. "I don't need my _mom_ coming with me. That wouldn't help at all."

"Aw," Daisuke called out. "Do you have plans you don't want your mom to know about? Something she would not approve of?"

Koushiro's face turned red. "Don't be ridiculous, Daisuke. I have no such plans and would appreciate it if you did not misinform my mother as such."

"Whatever," Daisuke said with a laugh.

"Maybe I really should go with you…" Mrs. Izumi said.

"No mom," Koushiro insisted. "I don't need my mom there, okay?"

"Alright," she said. Tears were glistening in her eyes. I was reminded of my own mom that morning. "I'm going to miss you so much…"

"Mom," Koushiro hissed. "You're embarrassing me."

"I'm sorry," she said, hugging him tightly. "I don't mean to."

"I know," he said with a sigh. "Dad's waiting in the car though. If you go now, he won't even have to pay for a parking spot."

"I'll leave now," she said with a smile. "Just be careful, and make sure you ask that American friend of yours about the traffic laws, so you don't get hurt."

"I'm not asking Mimi how to crossing a road is different in America," Koushiro said rolling his eyes. Everyone laughed at his mother's instructions.

"I know mom!" another voice called. It was Ken. "Here's the thing, mom. No one else is going to be waiting with their parents, so you should probably go now."

"But Ken," his mother said. "I can't help it."

"I know," he said. "Koushiro what is your mother doing here? How am I supposed to get rid of mine if my excuse is proven false?"

"I was just leaving," Koushiro's mom said with a laugh. "Would you like to walk out with me?"

Mrs. Ichijouji took one last look at Ken before resigning herself. "I suppose that would be best."

Both boys hugged their mother's one last time before watching them disappear into the crowd.

"So mom had a purpose here after all," Koushiro said with a smile.

"Yeah, getting rid of my mom," Ken said with a laugh.

"We're just waiting for Sora, Taichi and Yamato now," Takeru commented.

"No, it's just Taichi and Yamato," Sora called from behind him.

"Sora!" Hikari cried running over to hug her. "I've missed you so much."

"Any university horror stories?" Jou asked her with a smile, before pulling her into a hug of his own.

"Oh no," Koushiro said. "I'm heading out next year; I do _not_ need to hear any of those."

"Sixteen words," I grumbled.

"Sixteen words," he agreed with an impish grin.

Okay, I'll back up and explain that. It was a game the two of us developed right before heading off to face Apocalymon. We were tired of everyone complaining that we weren't social enough, and this game is a competition of a social nature. We compete to see who can input the most in a social situation… We'd never told anyone about the game, but somehow, they seemed to catch on.

"You aren't playing that game in New York, are you?" Sora groaned.

"Why not?" I asked, muttering a 'two' under my breath.

"We don't want the Americans to think we're completely nuts, that's why," Daisuke said.

"It's not crazy," I complained, making my total five words.

"Swear upon your love of digimon that you won't play that game," Miyako said.

"No way," Koushiro said. "Eighteen."

"Not on your life," I agreed. "Nine."

"Guys," Hikari started, but Ken—surprisingly enough—interrupted her.

"Koushiro, Mimi won't think it's cool," he said.

"I don't care what Mimi thinks," he said completely offhandedly and at ease. It seemed so honest, and I didn't trust him.

"Sure you don't," Takeru said rolling his eyes.

"I won't do it if you don't want to," I told him with a little smirk.

"I don't care," he repeated. "You can decide."

"If Taichi and Yamato don't get here soon," Sora said. "They're going to miss the plane. We can't wait much longer. We have to make it through customs, and be on board the plane a half hour before take-off."

"Maybe someone should call them," Miyako suggested.

"I'll do it," Takeru said pulling out his phone. He dialled his brother's number quickly, and was surprised to have Yamato answer nearly instantly. "Hello Yamato, this is Takeru. We were just wondering where you are…turn around? That's one of your songs isn't it? Oh, you mean literally turn my person to face the other direction…why didn't you say so?" He turned around quickly, and hung up the phone. He turned to face us with a big smile on his face. "He's down the hallway. He can see us from where he is."

"Great," I said, grabbing Meiyomon's hand. "We've got to get through customs, and Meiyo isn't exactly a legal citizen of earth, so we'll have to be careful."

"What's the hurry?" Taichi asked dropping his carry-on bag and opening his arms for his sister, who'd rushed to him the second she saw him. "There's still time left."

"Not much, Taichi. Why'd we take the bus again?" Yamato asked.

"It was cheapest," Taichi said with a shrug.

"We have to go…NOW," Jou said. "Customs will take awhile, and I don't really want to miss the flight, since we've already paid for it."

"Right…" Taichi agreed.

* * *

><p>"Dad," Kana said. "Can we just skip this part?"<p>

"Yeah, it's boring hearing about you getting onto the plane," Elliot said leaning back onto the couch.

"I guess it is..."

* * *

><p>After a lot of running around and going through baggage and customs, we were finally called to get onto the plane. Somehow we managed to get Meiyomon through customs without too many questions. There was a minute there when we weren't sure… Meiyomon had said something about blowing something up, and the guards were giving us some pretty suspicious looks until Meiyomon was patted down. That was sure something. He was—<p>

* * *

><p>"Dad," Kana warned.<p>

"Right, sorry…"

* * *

><p>Okay, on the plane, Koushiro got the window seat, and I was at the aisle. Jou was crammed in between us. Sora figured Jou would have been able to keep us from playing our game. What she didn't count on was that he was out like a light right after takeoff. That left Koushiro and I to our own devices for the rest of the trip. Sora probably would have made sure we didn't play herself, but she was sandwiched between her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend, and was trying to diffuse the awkward situation. Taichi and Yamato weren't really making it easy on her either. They were seated in the three seats directly in front of us. Right behind us were Daisuke, Hikari and Takeru. They weren't doing too well either. Miyako and Ken were on my right, across the aisle, with Meiyomon beside them. He was out cold just like Jou. Mom made him drink camomile tea before we left, and that stuff knocks him out as easily as a two-by-four.<p>

Now, it's not good to eavesdrop, ever. But I didn't have anything else to occupy my time with, and no one to talk to aside from Koushiro, who was too busy inputting some data into his laptop to bother with.

"I don't know what I should do," Miyako was saying. "I don't know what I want to do."

"Well," Ken said, trying to be diplomatic. "I would miss you a lot if you went, but on the other hand, your education is important too. It could define what you do for the rest of your life."

"I know," she whined. "That's what makes it so hard. I can't decide what I want to do. Nothing seems too appealing."

"You don't have to decide right away," Ken reminded her. "You wouldn't be leaving for another year."

"But applications are due in a few months, and if I miss those deadlines, it won't matter what I want," she said. "Why does planning the future have to be so hard?"

"I don't know," he said.

"Well, what do you want to do? Do you have any idea?" Miyako asked.

"I've known what I wanted to be for more than four years now," Ken said. "I want to be either a police officer or a detective. Either one would be fine, being a detective sounds much cooler though."

"You see? Everyone knows what they want but me," she complained. "Daisuke wants a noodle cart, Hikari wants to be a teacher, you want to be a detective, Jou wants to be a doctor. What do I want? Mantarou, Chizuru and Momoe all knew, and mom and dad are asking me weekly if I've figured it out, and I don't. I don't want to be a disappointment to them."

"You're not a disappointment," Ken reassured her. "No matter what you do, you won't be a failure, even if you work in that convenience store for the rest of your life."

"If I do that I will," she said with a snort.

"Not to me," Ken told her.

That when I decided to tune out of that conversation. It was too much of an intimate moment for me to go sticking my nose where it didn't belong.

"Do you think Willis will be waiting for us?" Hikari said loudly behind us. It was enough to draw my attention away from the couple.

"Who cares," Takeru said uncharacteristically snide.

"Yeah, you've got all of us," Daisuke said. "You don't need him too."

"That's a little rude, don't you think?" Hikari asked them.

"It's just that I already have so many people to compete with for your attention," Daisuke said. "I don't need any more."

"I just don't get along with Willis that well," Takeru said.

"You got along with him just fine before we got kicked out of the digital world," Daisuke said with a snort.

"Well, I guess without his digimon he isn't the same person," Takeru said shrugging his shoulders. I rolled my eyes, but pretended to be reading a pamphlet in front of me. I knew exactly why he was acting the way he was. It was because Hikari had been e-mailing Willis since he got back to America the year before. Every time she mentioned Willis, Takeru got uncomfortable. I knew why, because I did the same thing for a few months after Noriko got together with Hiroshi… I avoided even the mention of her name. I was jealous. And heartbroken. So I knew what Takeru was trying to hide.

And I felt sorry for him, I really did.

I forced myself to tune out of _that_ conversation. I didn't want to bring up bad memories. Noriko pretty much ruined the idea of love for me. And to make matters worse, she picked Hiroshi over me only to break up with him less than a month later. She came crying to me when it happened too. Boy was that infuriating. I was passed the depressed and moping stage at that point, and just decided to hate her instead. I didn't know whether to help her or chuck out. Mom made that decision for me, taking Noriko into the kitchen and giving her ice cream and talked to her about it. I went to the dojo and proceeded to beat a dummy for a couple of hours.

Anyway, I decided to focus on what was going on in front of me instead.

"Do you know if there are any great restaurants—that aren't _too_ expensive—around where we're staying?" Sora asked.

"No," Taichi said. "Why?"

"Oh…well, Yamato and I haven't seen each other since spring for our reading week, and I spent most of the time working on my backswing and some overdo reports…" Sora said suggesting she was talking about a date.

"Ah, right," Taichi said turning his head awkwardly, looking out the window.

"Yeah," Sora said.

"Mimi or Michael will know of one, Sora," Yamato said. "I can play you the band's new song too. I've got a recording. It's a love song…"

"Did you write it?" Taichi asked looking like he'd rather be _anywhere_ else.

"No, Akira, the bass player did. He just got a new girlfriend, and he's sure that this one is _the one_," Yamato explained.

"Wasn't the last one, _the one_?" Sora asked.

"And the one before that," Yamato agreed with a chuckle. "But he keeps writing great songs for them, so I don't mind his delusions."

"You met anyone Taichi?" Sora asked. She was so hopeful I almost laughed. It was just too funny. Yamato was looking down the aisle at some couple that were arguing, and Taichi was looking at the ceiling awkwardly. All because of a simple question.

"Not like that," he said after a long silence.

"But you have then?" she asked a smile on her face. This was her chance at making it less awkward. Even Yamato looked hopeful now.

"Rei," Taichi said simply. "She's fun to be around, and she's in my business classes. I actually met her before school though. She lives across the hall from you Yamato."

"And you're interested?" Sora asked. She was practically begging him to say yes.

"Not at the moment, no," Taichi said. "I don't think I'm ready for a relationship. I don't know if I can handle one. I couldn't handle the last one."

And it was awkward again.

I actually did chuckle this time.

"Rei…Saiba then?" Yamato said clearing his throat. Sora was drowning in the situation; I figured he was going to see if he could salvage it.

"That's her," Taichi said. When he turned to look at Yamato I saw how his eyes lit up. I filed it away for later.

"I don't think I've ever seen her," Yamato admitted. "I've seen her brother and her mother, but that's it."

"Well, her dad left a long time ago," Taichi explained. "But you'd know if you saw her."

"Because she's so memorable?" Sora asked hinting once again that Taichi should probably pursue her.

"Well…yeah," Taichi said. "You won't forget her in a hurry, but that's not what I meant."

"Whatever," Sora said. "I can see I won't get anywhere with this."

"I'm not ready," Taichi said again. "I want to make sure I can keep a hold of my relationship with Hikari before trying to balance that with something else. Hikari is the most important person to me right now. I have to be careful."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Sora said with a sigh. "What did you guys think of your exams?"

I decided it was going to get too boring after that, and I tuned them out too. I was going to try and take a nap myself, when Koushiro got my attention.

"Iori," he said quietly. "I'll keep track of the word on a chart I've drawn up. We'll see who wins after this vacation."

"So we're still doing it?" I asked a smile on my face.

"Oh yeah," he said.

"No one will know?" I questioned.

"We keep it to ourselves," he concluded.

"What's the prize?" I asked raising my eyebrow at him.

"We'll have to think of something good…" he said with a sigh. He had no idea.

"I'm at eighteen so far," I said.

"Not including this little conversation?"

"This won't count," I said.

"Good. The terms?"

"We have to speak with people other than ourselves," I said. "Otherwise we wouldn't talk to them at all…"

"I might…" he said half-heartedly. "But I agree to the rule. How about…we don't have to both be there, but we have to be honest."

"I'm always honest," I said. "It's the honourable thing."

"Yeah, yeah," he said rolling his eyes. "I just had to be sure."

"You plan on spending a lot of time away from the group?" I asked. "Alone time with Mimi maybe?"

"Why does everyone suggest that? I don't have anything other than brotherly affections for her. Everyone's always suggesting I'm in love with her or something…" he trailed off looking uncomfortable. I laughed to myself. He refused to accept it. That's all there was too it. He was rubbish with emotions, and love and affection? Well, those were the trickiest of all…

"Hey!" Daisuke called a little too loudly. People around us were hushing him. "Sorry people! Anyway," he said softer. "Look who it is in the back. Is that Kurayami?"

I turned to look and sure enough, Kurayami was sitting a little ways behind us. I could tell it was her, because she was dressed all in black, and her long black hair was tied up on the back of her head.

* * *

><p>"You realize a lot of people wear black and have black hair right?" Louisa asked me.<p>

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, but if you'd just listen you'd realize that there was more to it."

"Yeah, Louisa, don't interrupt the man," Elliot said.

* * *

><p>Anyway, it wasn't just the hair and the clothes; it was how the two together seemed to give off a dark shroud. It was almost as if she was under that hideous cloak she'd been wearing in our last adventure. She was frightening even without it though, if the way the stewardesses kept skirting around her was any indication.<p>

* * *

><p>"See, you shouldn't jump to conclusions," Elliot said happily.<p>

"You shouldn't jump to conclusions," Louisa mocked rolling her eyes.

"You should stop interrupting if you want me to finish this story," I warned them. Needless to say, they shut right up.

* * *

><p>"What's she doing here?" Hikari asked in a thoughtful voice.<p>

"Don't know…" Takeru murmured.

"Her grandfather lives in Japan," Daisuke said helpfully.

"Maybe she's going home?" Takeru suggested.

"She lives with her mother," Hikari said confidently, though how she knew this, I didn't know. "I suppose her mom could be in New York though…"

"Maybe she's just on a trip like us," Daisuke suggested.

"Or she could be stalking us," I joked.

The three of them turned to look at me, their eyes going wide. "You think so?"

"No," I started, but they weren't listening. I rolled my eyes at some of their theories, and put some headphones on, allowing the sound of jazz to fill my mind. I leaned back and let sleep take me.

The next thing I knew, was Miyako shaking my shoulder, and hearing Meiyomon shouting at me.

"Iori, Iori you've gotta get up now! We're in the new place called York!"

"It's New York," I groaned. Why did he have to play the part of a seven year old so well?

"Right," he said. "The lady said we have to put our seatbelts back on 'cause we're gonna be landing."

"Ken, make sure he's got his on right," I said with a sigh.

"Will do," Ken said laughing. The idea of Meiyomon getting hurt in any simple human accident was laughable, but we had to make people believe he was normal…even if he hadn't grown so much as an inch in the last year… His growth spurt will make him look like a teenage if he ever reaches it. Digivolving is hard without a partner or a crest, or so he says anyway…

"I enjoyed that flight," Jou said happily. "Hours and hours of uninterrupted sleep!"

I snickered, but silently agreed.

"Do you think Mimi will be waiting for us at the terminal?" Koushiro asked. I mentally added the twelve words to his total, before noticing him jot it down on a piece of scrap paper. He was at forty-Two in case you were wondering.

* * *

><p>"We weren't," Kana assured me.<p>

* * *

><p>"She said she would be there with Michael and Willis," Jou told us.<p>

Koushiro was staring at the seat in front of him in a daze. I rolled my eyes. He'd have to learn he liked her at some point…and hopefully he'd realize that Michael was not Mimi's boyfriend too. His confused jealously wasn't even funny anymore. It was just sad. Mostly because he's the smartest in our group of friends and he couldn't even see it for what it was…

But I digress.

We got off the plane and finally made it to the baggage terminal, where we picked up our bags. It was there that we saw a small group of four holding up a sign written in Japanese: Welcome to New York Digi-Destined!

I smiled and followed after the older kids, all the while holding on to Meiyomon's hand. Mimi and Willis held the sign up high, yelling happily at us, while Michael and a pretty girl with brown hair that curled around her face and excited eyes waited by their side.

We were finally there.

**Next Time on How Iori Met Their Mother:** Perhaps Iori will inform us of the name of this mysterious girl, just who is she…? You'll have to read to find out!


	2. Careful Not To Get Hugged

**Y/N: **I was laughing for about half of this chapter while reading it. Urazamay did a pretty good job on it I think, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

**U/N: **This chapter, was... hard i guess... at first. I mean, switching to the future, but it served to be a particularly good story telling device as i got to some parts which were really unnecessary. The little excerpts from the kids helped move it along... and i also... went a little... too far into how i met your mother here... if you've watched the show you should know what i mean... but i like this chapters sooo... yeah... enjoy :P

**Title: ****How Iori Met Their Mother**

**By: Yukira and Urazamay King**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.**

**Part 2: Careful Not To Get Hugged**

_**Iori:**_

"Finally," Elliot said exasperatedly. "I thought you would never make it there. You need to work on your story-telling skills…"

"Don't be mean," Louisa chastised.

"You thought so too," Elliot said with a smirk.

"But she'd never say it," Kana said smiling. "But he's right dad that was really long…"

"Well, if you don't want to see where the story is going…"

"We do!" the two girls called out at once.

"Then sit back and let me tell it my way," I told them. "It won't be that much longer."

Then there was a knock on the door. I sighed, but went to answer it anyway. Yamato was standing on the other side of the door in his leather jacket.

"What are you up to today, Iori?" he asked.

"I'm telling the kids a story," I told him awkwardly. It wasn't like him to simply show up anywhere, without his kids in any case.

"What about?"

"That time we went to New York," I said.

"Ah, when we met Tatum," he said in understanding. "Right. Where'd you get to?"

"We just got to the terminal actually, in New York. They were holding up the sign and we were headed over to them…"

"Right," he said walking passed me into the room where the kids were seated on the couch.

"Who wants Uncle Yamato to take over the story?" he said rather loudly. I groaned. This was not how I planned this day going.

"Yeah!" the kids all shouted excitedly. I guess I was out of a job.

"Okay, well, we were at the terminal…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yamato:<strong>_

Mimi was freaking out, and I mean literally freaking out. She was bouncing up and down as if she was a rubber ball and she was crying and laughing at the same time as squealing. It was annoying, and yet flattering to see how excited she was to see us, so I couldn't complain really. Michael was far less excited and he was standing protectively around his girlfriend as if any one of us might just try to steal her from him. And Willis, well I can't remember exactly where he went but I do know that Hikari, Miyako, Takeru and Daisuke also disappeared so he probably left with them.

* * *

><p>"Willis left with Hikari, and Miyako and Takeru ran off to spy on her. Daisuke ran after them because he thought they were having some sort of secret party." Iori cut in, "I know this story better than you do, just let me tell it."<p>

"Dad," Kana said demandingly, "Share the spotlight, okay?"

Iori rolled his eyes and sank back into his chair as I continued my story.

* * *

><p>Anyway, after Mimi finished her freak out session she took a few deep breaths and then started telling us a bunch of boring facts about New York, and finally decided to lead us somewhere so we were out of the way of the surplus of people coming from the plane terminals.<p>

"My house is this way," Mimi explained, "I would take a taxi but there's no way we'd all fit."

"I offered to allow us to make use of one of my father's many limousines—" Michael said, pulling his hair out of his eyes and standing with his hands on his hips to show us that he was more important than us here in his own home country.

"Stop showing off Michael." Mimi snapped, "We're going to walk."

"We're going to drag all of our stuff down the streets of New York?" Sora asked, her expression was flat as she released all of her things and allowed them to fall to the ground.

"Sora's right," Taichi said, "That doesn't seem safe—I hear America is infested with thieves."

"That's not true." Michael said.

"Yes it is Michael..." Mimi sighed, "I suppose you're right... Michael would you call your father?"

"Fine..." Michael groaned, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and dialling a number.

"So what's the plan, Mimi?" Ken asked shyly, "What are we going to do here?"

"I have a bunch of things planned for you guys!" Mimi giggled, "First we're going to go see the Statue of Liberty, and then—"

"That sounds fascinating!" Koushiro exclaimed causing most of us to try to hide our laughter, resulting in snorts and fake coughs. Koushiro looked around in anger at us as if he wasn't sure why we were laughing, but that had to have been one of the most obvious attempts to make Mimi like him ever. But at the same time I could tell he was actually interested in the statue.

"I'm really not in the mood to go sightseeing." I said flatly, "Mimi let's do something fun..."

"Let's play American video games!" Taichi suggested.

"They all stink." Mimi sighed, "I've already tried them."

"How about we go listen to American rock music?" I tried.

"I can't understand what they're saying and I _speak_ English..." Mimi responded simply.

"What about—" Sora tried.

"We're going to see the statue!" Mimi roared, "Where is Takeru?" She shot at me. I could tell Mimi was dead set on this sightseeing thing... she had clearly been planning it for a while, and I couldn't help but laugh at the evil glare she was sending my way.

"I have no idea," I said looking around. I was panicked at first, but I knew he'd be fine so I just let it slide.

"And Hikari?" Mimi asked Taichi who shrugged his shoulders looking for me for answers. "Where's Miyako and Daisuke?" She snapped to Ken.

"I-I-I dunno..." Ken shrunk back and hid behind Sora and Jou.

"Where's Willis?" Her face was suddenly calm, but I could tell she wanted to cry. "Willis and I had a script—we planned the whole week! Where did he go?"

We all looked around, shrugging our shoulders. Mimi looked like she was about to explode as Michael came back around and smiled.

"Dad said he'll come get us—but he won't be here for another hour." Michael explained half heartedly.

Mimi turned around and punched him in the face.

* * *

><p>"That didn't happen!" Iori interjected, "She did not punch him! Yet..."<p>

"But wouldn't it have been funny if she did?" I asked.

The three kids started laughing and Iori groaned, "You are the worst story teller ever!"

"He may not have the facts right..." Louisa said giggling.

"But it's funnier this way," Elliot finished.

"Come on dad..." Kana laughed, "Let him tell the story his way."

"No!" Iori said angrily, "Next thing you know he'll have aliens coming to take over the world!"

"Oh hush up little one. Let me finish." I laughed.

* * *

><p>Mimi rounded on Michael and tore his skin off, revealing that he was an alien, and then—<p>

* * *

><p>The three kids roared with laughter as Iori punched me in the arm. "I was telling a true story here. Please show me the respect of continuing it seriously?"<p>

"Fine..." I groaned.

* * *

><p>So Mimi nodded slowly as Michael finished his sentence and then she fell to the ground in tears.<p>

"Mimi!" Jou said quickly, "Don't cry Mimi!" He rushed to her side and sat down next to her. "It'll be ok!"

"Jou's right," Iori said, "We have all week to do what you had planned... We can just cut out some of the boring things..."

"Like bathroom breaks—and lunch." Taichi said, trying to comfort her.

Mimi looked up to him, eyes wide, "I forgot to set aside time to eat!"

"We'll just sleep less than you planned..." Jou said, looking as though he too wanted to cry.

"Sleep?" Mimi groaned, "I forgot sleeping too!"

Taichi and I began laughing at her, but we stopped abruptly when Sora elbowed the both of us and then stepped forward toward Mimi. "Mimi there's no reason to panic," She said, "Just because your plan won't work out exactly the way you planned doesn't mean that we won't have fun with you! We'll just make a new plan—go with the flow. That's how we used to do things, so why shouldn't we do that here too?"

Mimi nodded, "You're right Sora... ok... so we'll wait here for an hour—"

"Sorry guys—" Willis cut in as he slid into the group, a smile spread across his face. Daisuke was standing by his side looking a little put out. "I just had to show Hikari the park... she's there with Takeru and Miyako—"

"Why?" Taichi said quickly.

"She was feeling sick." Willis said, "I've been around her long enough to know how to make her feel better."

"You live in New York—since when have you been around her?" Taichi asked.

"While you've been off at school all year I've been visiting for a week every month." Willis said.

"Why didn't I know about this?" Taichi asked. "Is there anyone else spending more time with my sister than I am that I don't know about?"

Daisuke began whistling loudly and looking to the sky, clearly trying to hide something but Taichi didn't notice.

"Where's the park?" Ken asked. "I should go or Miyako might think I like Mimi more than her and I'm just really not up for another fight right now."

"It's just over there," Willis replied, pointing behind him, "Just around the corner you'll see it."

"Thanks," Ken smiled as he ran off the way Willis had pointed.

"As I was saying." Mimi said slowly, "We'll wait here for an hour, and then we'll take our bags back to Michael's house and then go straight to the statue of liberty. I suppose we may be able to still get everything done if we take the car... we could go faster."

Michael laughed, "Are you kidding Mimi? You know New York traffic... it won't be any faster."

And then Mimi stood up and stared him right in the eyes and she—

* * *

><p>"She didn't punch him." Iori cut in.<p>

"I know that!" I growled, "Come on Iori loosen up just let me build up the suspense."

"This isn't a suspense story—" Iori assured me, "this is just how I met—"

"Dad!" Kana hissed, "Just let him tell the story."

I smiled triumphantly to Iori, pleased that his own daughter was siding with me instead of him and then I continued.

* * *

><p>And before she could do anything Daisuke piped up. "I'm really hungry." He said.<p>

"Me too..." Iori agreed.

"Didn't you guys eat on the plane?" Sora asked.

They both shook their heads. "I fell asleep..." Iori admitted.

"And I just hate plane food..." Daisuke sighed.

"You hate food?" I gasped, "You eat...everything!"

"Not plane food." Daisuke sighed.

"I know a great restaurant just down the street from here if you guys want to come." Willis said slowly, looking to Daisuke and Iori who both nodded slowly.

"You mean-?" Michael started.

"Yup." Willis nodded, "That's the one."

"We're coming too kay babe?"

* * *

><p>"Can you leave out the word 'babe'?" Elliot asked, "It's gross."<p>

Louisa nodded, "It's an objectifying term, I don't much like the use of it either." She smiled and put her hair behind her ear, "I much prefer the term 'darling' or 'honey' because they're sweet and romantic."

I rolled my eyes and continued.

* * *

><p>"We're coming too, kay <em>honey<em>?" Michael said. The quiet girl next to him smiled and nodded and then Michael and Willis lead the way for Iori and Daisuke to go to the restaurant. Before Iori left I heard him whispering to Koushiro behind me. "I'm at a hundred and seventy."

"No way!" Koushiro growled.

"Yup, I was talking to Jou a minute ago." Iori laughed before running off after Daisuke and the others.

"Jou!" Koushiro smiled, "how are you?"

I figured I'd ignore the fact that they were still playing their game and just let them go on in secret as they clearly were intending to do so anyway.

We were splitting up even here in New York... I found the fact rather amusing... it reminded me how we were never able to stay together in the digital world, and then here we were struggling to remain a group even in a simple city.

"We can still have fun with just the seven of us right?"

"Seven?" I asked counting heads, and after the third time counting through my eyes rested on Meiyomon who was standing next to Taichi looking really awkward.

"Can I go with Iori?" Meiyomon asked, "I'm ... I wanna."

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" Sora asked.

"Iori says sometimes that he wants breaks from me, does he still want a break?" Meiyomon asked.

"I—" Sora paused, "I'm sorry, I don't know."

"I'll just go see Miyako and Ken then... kay?" Meiyomon asked, running off the way Ken had gone earlier.

"You shouldn't run off alone!" Mimi yelled, "He's just a little kid! He could be—"

* * *

><p>"Hugged." Iori cut in loudly, "She said hugged. Nothing else... hugged."<p>

I laughed loudly.

* * *

><p>"He could be hugged!" Mimi cried out.<p>

"He's just going around the corner Mimi..." I said quietly, "I think he'll make it—plus, if anyone tries to hug him, he'll blow them up."

"Good point." Mimi smiled, hopping to her feet. "So we'll just wait here with everyone's luggage..."

"I'm going for a walk..." Taichi said, and without another word he was gone.

"Taichi—didn't I just inform you about huggers?" Mimi asked, "You could be hugged!"

He didn't respond, he just kept walking.

"He can't blow people up Yamato." Mimi argued. "Go get him back."

"Come on Sora..." I said taking her hand, "Let's go save Taichi from being hugged."

Sora nodded and we began walking immediately. I wasn't really planning on helping Taichi because he was heading toward the park and I knew he was going to go check up on his sister—or that was what I assumed he was doing anyway, so Sora and I just walked behind him for a while until we got to the corner and then casually crossed the street toward the park.

"It's really pretty..." Sora said looking at the trees and the grass, "Too bad the rest of the city isn't like this..."

"You don't like New York?" I asked her.

"It's hard to say, we've only been down one street." Sora laughed, "But so far? No." She sighed, "No I don't."

"I don't like it much either." I said stepping onto the grass in the park. "But we're here to see Mimi, not the city."

"Then why aren't we still with her?" Sora asked.

"We... have all week to see Mimi," I laughed, "Let's just enjoy the park for now... just for a bit..."

And that was exactly what we did. I remembered that Sora had been planning to go on a date at some point throughout the week... and she had asked Taichi about it, which was hilarious in itself.

We walked around the perimeter of the park just talking about how school was going for a while and then I sang her the chorus of that new song I had told her about on the plane which she seemed to enjoy and—

* * *

><p>"I don't wanna hear about your date with whats-her-face." Elliot grumbled.<p>

"Her name is Sora!" Louisa argued, "And the date sounds very sweet!"

"Fine... I'll skip ahead." I sighed.

"No!" Louisa cried out loudly as Elliot laughed triumphantly to himself.

* * *

><p>As we came around the park for the second time I spotted Takeru and Hikari sitting underneath a tree and at the other side of the tree Miyako and Ken were sitting, staring out at an open part of the park where Meyiomon was running around jumping up and catching butterflies. I had to admit it was pretty cute.<p>

"Where's Taichi?" I asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Where is he?" I asked again, "I figured he was coming to see Hikari..."

"Oh... I guess he didn't." She shrugged.

"Then why did he come to the park?" I asked.

"I—there." She said, pointing to a bridge in the middle of the park. "He's there... do you see him?"

I nodded, "It's hard to miss him... his hair is pretty big." I laughed.

She giggled a little and then started dragging me along with her across the park toward the bridge. It was clear that our date was over as we stepped up toward Taichi.

Taichi was standing by himself on the bridge, leaning against the edge of it and staring down into the river down below. He didn't look toward us but it was clear that he was unhappy.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked him, stepping up beside him and placing her hand on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>"What exactly does this have to do with the story?" Iori asked, "I'm not even here anymore... let me take over."<p>

"But I want to know what was wrong with Taichi!" Kana moaned, "Please Dad?"

Iori once again pouted and retreated back into his chair. I straightened my back and smiled.

* * *

><p>He looked toward us, his eyes were red as if he was about to cry and I knew that it would be best for Sora to take control of this situation so I said nothing.<p>

"Doesn't matter," Taichi said turning away.

"Taichi... you've always been very closed in about your feelings... you should let them out. Tell me about them?" Sora tried.

"What is there to tell?" Taichi asked. "I'm not in a good mood. That's all."

"Well... who is Rei Saiba?" Sora asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Taichi said flatly.

"This is exactly what I mean; you need to stop bottling up your emotions Taichi." Sora said, "It's not healthy. Yamato and I have been your best friends forever. There's no reason for you to hide what you're thinking from us. We're here to help you."

I felt like there was a bit too much anger in her voice as she argued with him, and as she finished there was an incredible amount of tension in the air around us as Taichi balled his fists and looked the other way. Slowly he relaxed and said, "It's Hikari."

I nodded, I had a feeling I knew where he was going to be heading with this now that he mentioned his sister.

"She's really sick and I... I totally forgot." He muttered.

"Well that's not your fault." Sora said, "She's strong Taichi, she's been acting as if she wasn't sick at all."

"But... Willis knew. He could tell." Taichi said.

"He said he's been spending a lot of time with her." I added.

Taichi rounded on the two of us angrily, "But she's _my _sister!"

"Calm down." Sora said without an ounce of comfort in her voice. I was glad she knew how to handle a sad Taichi because I had never once had to deal with him like this...

"Sorry..." He said slowly, "I just... I should know! I should be able to tell! I lived with her since she was born—I should be able to tell when she's sick."

"You just haven't been around her much." I added, "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself."

"I'm not really blaming myself..." Taichi said, "I'm just sad..."

"Why are you sad?" Sora asked.

There was a long moment of silence in which Taichi turned back to the waters to try pretending as if we weren't there at all. But after a full minute of silence he realized we weren't going to leave and so he forced the next sentence out of his mouth. "She doesn't need me anymore." He took a deep breath and continued, still looking away from us, "Through all of the time when she did need me I was a horrible brother—taking her to the park to play resulting in her being hospitalized, ignoring her for a full year just because I was scared..."

"You weren't a horrible brother Taichi." I said, "You were always a good brother—to Hikari _and_ Takeru. Even though he wasn't your brother, you acted as one because I was too stupid to do so. I was too stuck up and nervous to accept Takeru as my brother, and so he clung to you. I was jealous of you because of how good you were with the two of them... but eventually I learned from you. I learned to become a good brother because of you."

Taichi nodded, "I... I guess... but—"

"But nothing." Sora said flatly, "You were always a good brother—well except when you were ignoring her... that was just mean, but you got over that, the two of you are really close again."

"I know." Taichi said, "I just feel like I should still be the one taking care of her... but instead Willis and Takeru are—and even Daisuke."

"That's what happens when girls grow up." Sora said, "She gets interested in boys."

Taichi laughed, "I know... but I just wish I could help her with that too... I wish I could show her the way—which one to pick but that's all her choice."

"Who would you pick for her?" Sora asked.

"Probably Daisuke..." Taichi admitted.

* * *

><p>"Ok, so now you know why Taichi was sad." Iori said, "Let's move on."<p>

"I'm almost done." I growled, "Just let me finish."

* * *

><p>"So what are you guys doing here?" Taichi asked, wiping his eyes to make sure no tears had escaped.<p>

"We were sent to make sure you didn't get hugged." I said laughing.

"Mimi was a little paranoid." Sora said, rolling her eyes.

"I saw you guys walking around..." Taichi said, "Was that... a date? Did you stop looking for me to go on a date?"

We both shook our heads.

"What? No..." I said quickly.

"That's preposterous." Sora said slowly, "We were just looking for you, I swear."

"Well... would you mind if we walked a little more before we went back to the others...? I think I need a little time before I jump back into being the fun and amazing me." Taichi said.

Sora and I laughed and nodded. Even though he was totally joining in our date... I didn't mind too much. He was after all my best friend.

**Next Time on How Iori Met Their Mother:** Well, we still don't know of the mystery girl, but we had a little adventure and a 'romantic' date I suppose. Next time someone else will take up the reins of the story…who will it be?


	3. Serving Some Filler

**Y/N: **I think this one is cute….but it's not terribly exciting. I hope you enjoy it….we've got the next one done too….so you won't have to wait so long…. This chapter was particularly difficult to write I think….

**U/N: **THIS CHAPTER IS kinda boring. But that's because… there is no excuse for it really :/ but anyway, we're going to try to put chapters up quickly from now on, it may not work but we'll see. Review! This, as you may have already guessed is meant to be kinda silly…. This whole story, not just this chapter.

**Title: ****How Iori Met Their Mother**

**By: Yukira and Urazamay King**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.**

**Part 3: Serving Some Filler**

_**Yamato:**_

"Ok so now I'm going to tell the rest of my story." Iori smiled happily, "Because it's a really good story... believe me."

"Wait—" I interjected already, "You're story is pretty much the whole story—shouldn't we tell them what happened with Mimi, Koushiro and Jou first?"

"No," Iori said, "That also has nothing to do with my part of the story. You can tell them later."

"But we should tell it in order of occurrence. We need to tell them Mimi's story first." I insisted.

"Mimi's hilarious!" Elliot said, "Please let him tell it?"

"Yeah... Please dad?" Kana pleaded.

"Please?" Louisa said dramatically.

"Oh alright fine," Iori sighed. "Tell it quickly."

"One second..." I said. "I need to call Mimi..."

"What? Why?" Iori asked as I pulled out my phone.

"Mimi should tell it—the story is best when Mimi tells it," I insisted.

"But—" Iori tried but I hushed him up because I had already dialled Mimi's phone number.

"Hello?" Mimi said from the other end. "Yamato? This isn't really a good time—"

"Mimi you need to tell a story," I said quickly. "The one when we went to visit you in New York."

"Oh—which part?" she asked excitedly.

"You, Koushiro and Jou were—" I tried.

"Say no more," she interrupted. "I have it ready."

"Ok, I'm going to put you on speaker phone..." I said.

"No need. I have a better idea." Mimi said and I could tell she was smirking. "Turn the TV on to channel seven."

"Uhm... ok." I said turning to Iori who looked really bored. "Turn the TV on ... channel Seven."

He looked just as confused as I felt as he jumped to his feet and scuffed across the room to turn the TV on. The box lit up and Iori flipped through the channels until he stopped on channel seven, a commercial was just finishing before fading into a cooking show…Mimi's cooking show.

"I forgot you were on air," I told her. She laughed, looking towards the camera-man. She made a few motions with her hands before smiling brightly at her audience.

"Welcome back to 'Cooking with Mimi', with me, Mimi!" she said happily. "Today we're going to start with glazed salmon with a simply amazing risotto. And as it happens, we've got a few of my friends on the line, ready to tell a story with me. How does that sound?"

We heard a rousing round of applause.

"Ok, we're all set," she smiled. "Now my friends were visiting me in New York, and we were splitting off into groups…"

"These kids like to cut into the story Mimi, they'll probably want to ask a few questions. So I'll keep you on speaker phone," I told her.

"Oh alright..." she sighed. "We'll start with mixing the glaze…."

She rambled off a list of ingredients, before tossing them into a bowl. I couldn't help but think she was more interested in the story than her creation of the day…

"So where were we?" Mimi asked, "You and Sora just left... or?"

"Mhm..." I mumbled as I turned the phone onto speaker.

"Please hurry." Iori pleaded, "I'm growing rather impatient with—"

"It was a cold and stormy night!" Mimi started.

"No it wasn't." Iori snapped. The audience laughed.

"Ok, it was a sunny afternoon in New York..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mimi:<strong>_

I had just made sure that Meiyomon and Taichi weren't going to be…well, they were going to be okay anyway. And Sora and Yamato totally ditched the rest of us for their stupid romantic stroll through the park that they tried to pass off as a search for Taichi…

* * *

><p>"We <em>were<em> looking for Taichi," Yamato interrupted.

"Sure you were," I said rolling my eyes. My audience laughed at my joke. I flashed them a dazzling smile. "Anyway, everyone left me behind with my future husband and my friend…."

* * *

><p>"They all left us behind!" I cried. "Now how are we supposed to complete my list? Huh?"<p>

"Why don't the three of us get a head start?" Jou suggested.

"I guess _we_ could go to the statue… since Koushiro was the only one that thought it was interesting."

"It's got a lot of historical significance, as well as—"

"I don't care," I commented. "I just want us to go and see it."

"Then we'll do that. You should probably call Michael and tell him where we're going," Jou said.

"And find someone to watch our luggage that is entirely trustworthy," Koushiro added, eyeing his carry-on in particular. I could tell that's where his stupid laptop was stored. He probably didn't care about his suitcase at all…

But I'm getting off topic aren't I?

In any case, we spent five minutes arguing about who was 'worthy' of caring for his precious laptop. But that was a rather petty argument that I'm not going to bother going into. And it doesn't really matter all that much. We ended up arguing until Michael's driver showed up, so we stuck all of the luggage in the car, and sent him to the park for the others. I gave him a message to pass on to the others about where we were going.

We finally left, and Koushiro and Jou and I caught a cab down to see the statue.

"Do you want to get the full experience, and go on the ferry, or is this close enough for you?" I asked them when we finally made it through the traffic to the dock of the Staten Island Ferry. I could almost hear Jou's answer before he actually said it aloud.

"No thanks, I'm fine here. I get seasick, I just know I do," he said.

"I don't mind," Koushiro said, though it was clear he wanted to see the statue a little closer. "I'm fine with whatever you decide."

"I'm here to show you guys what you want to see," I said simply.

"I…I just think that this should be what _you_ want. We came to see you, and we want you to be happy," Koushiro said. He wasn't meeting my eyes though, so I rolled my eyes.

"That was a nice number of words you know," I commented. "At least thirty I'd say."

"Thirty-two actually," he admitted quietly. His faced flushed bright red.

"We said not to play that," Jou said with a groan.

"I'm sure I'd win a game like that," I said with a laugh.

"Well…you do talk an awful lot," Jou teased.

"The game was designed to improve our abysmal social capabilities," Koushiro said shyly. "You wouldn't need to take part in such a game. You're perfectly social as you are."

"Perfectly social?" Jou said with a snort. Koushiro shoved him—good naturedly of course.

"Well she is," he muttered.

"We all knew that," I said coming to his rescue. "Now we take a nice fresh cut of salmon, and we—"

* * *

><p>"What?" Elliot interrupted. "That doesn't make sense."<p>

"Oh no, dear, I was referring to my recipe," I said clearly, towards my cell phone, which I'd put on speaker phone. "I realize this is terribly inconvenient, but I simply mustn't disregard my work all together."

"We understand," Louisa and Kana chorused.

"I'm so glad you do," I told them with a smile. "Now, we simply take a basting brush and—"

"I hope this doesn't take too long," Elliot droned.

"Boys," I said to the audience with a laugh. "I suppose I'll just have to make this quick."

I prattled off the instructions for the salmon before turning to look at the camera again.

"We'd settled on just watching Liberty Island for awhile, standing firmly on the ground, so as to not trigger Jou's seasickness…."

* * *

><p>"How long have we been here?" I asked after what seemed like forever.<p>

"Two hours," Koushiro said, still staring off at the Statue of Liberty, resting out in the water, holding her torch up in the air, never tiring. It was a beautiful sight, truly.

"And Jou?" I asked.

"Still asleep," he said rolling his eyes.

"How are you doing then?" I asked after a long moment of silence.

"I'm fine…" he murmured.

"No, I meant what have you been up to?"

"I'm planning I guess. I don't know what I'm going to do; all my prior plans have been rendered absolutely futile. I haven't a clue what I'm going to do next year. Go to school I reckon though I haven't an idea what for. Computers I suppose. I'm not much interested in anything else…."

"No?"

"I've just got to keep learning, gaining knowledge, that's what Tentomon instructed me to do," he said. "I have to live up to that promise. It's the last thing he ever said to me."

"I understand," I said.

"Have you improved your recipes lately?" he asked after another long silence.

"You remembered my salad?" I asked in shock.

"Of course I do. I remember every strange dish I've ever eaten, and yours takes the cake," he said with a laugh.

"I figured that honour would go to Mrs. Yagami," I joked. We laughed for awhile about that one, before lapsing into silence.

Well…it was as silent as it could get, with all of the horns honking and the people walking and talking and yelling at each other. It was relaxing to me, but I could see it was getting to Koushiro more and more as time went on.

"I suppose we ought to get back soon," he said softly, interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh?"

"They must be wondering where we are," he commented. "And we left them with our luggage. It was rather rude of us don't you think? And Jou would probably appreciate an actual bed to sleep in, rather than the edge of the pavement."

"That last bit might be right," I mused. "The flight must be catching up with him."

"It's not the flight, it's his classes that have caught him," Koushiro joked.

"They'd catch you too," Jou commented drowsily. "If we're going to talk, we should do it someplace else."

"Oh, how about Time Square?" I asked excitedly.

I simply didn't leave any room for argument, and dragged them along with me whether they wanted to or not.

"It is one of the best places you'll ever see," I told them. "It's full of shops and people from all over, and there are fantastic restaurants, and Broadway is just down the way. I can get us tickets if you want to go. Mom works as manager at one of the theatres, and tells me when they've got extra seats they need to sell."

"What don't you have ties to?" Jou asked with a laugh.

"Well, my dad is Michael's dad's agent now, so I'm not sure what all I can do with Michael's help to be honest," I said with a shrug.

"And that girl was Michael's girlfriend?" Koushiro asked deceivingly sounding uninterested.

"Yes, they've been dating about two weeks now I think," I said with a nod. "They were having a bit of a rocky start though, but I think they're fine now."

"Hmm," he said looking to be thinking something over.

"I don't know, he might still have eyes for you Mimi," Jou said laughing. I hit his arm and rolled my eyes, but I let him think whatever he wanted. It wouldn't make a difference.

"So we're going to a show?" Jou asked after a short time.

"We're going to commercial actually…"

* * *

><p>"Aww…we won't get to see her funny faces," Elliot whined.<p>

"I can still hear you, you know," I said. "And my face is not funny looking."

"It is when you tell stories," Elliot said with a snort.

"Yamato, Iori, control that child," I cried…well, maybe I begged…

"Elliot, stop," Yamato said half-heartedly.

"Just tell the story," Iori said. "I'm only so patient."

"But you can't see me yet," I complained. "Wait for the commercials to end. And for me to start my risotto…."

"Fine," he said with a sigh. I guessed the kids were looking at him with those adorable puppy dog looks of theirs. No one could say no to that.

So we waited, until the commercials ended, and my risotto was on simmering.

"Where were we…?"

"Broadway?" Kana prompted.

* * *

><p>"We were at the theatre," I said excitedly.<p>

We'd settled into the seats my mom put aside for me—not fabulous, but not too shabby. We were in one of the balconies by the stage, it was an odd angle I'll admit, but we were right up there. There were just six other people with us in the balcony, and that made it all the more perfect. I had, of course texted Michael with our location, telling him I had to keep my phone off, so he couldn't contact us for a few hours, and not to panic. Okay, so that was really a message for Miyako, who had a tendency to become downright frantic over the simplest of things.

"You know, we could have paid for our own tickets," Koushiro said, looking around our fellow audience members in fascination.

"But this wasn't one of the plans," I told him. "It wouldn't be right to make you spend your souvenir money on this."

"I'm not sure Jou even needed to buy a ticket," he commented, nodding his head in Jou's direction. He was asleep already, and he hadn't even seen any of the play yet. It was a touch disappointing, but it wasn't even my money I was spending anyway. It was my mom's. She insisted, saying it was inspirational how I wanted to expose my Japanese friends to the wonders of the Broadway stage… She'd been kind of eccentric, but she'd always been like that. And she said all those trips to Japan I'd taken through the digital world had really helped with our savings, since they didn't have pay for so many trips. I hadn't even gone back to Japan since I left after the Digital World closed itself off again. I was in my mourning period, and didn't want to go to the 'scene of the crime' so to speak. Mom's been looking for a way to spoil me, to make me smile since Palmon and I said our final farewell. She has _not_ however given up on Michael and I. That's still stupid.

Jou gave little more than a snort, when the lights dimmed, and the spotlights found their way to the stage. With my cell phone turned off, I settled down to watch the musical.

"I take it this will all be in English?" Koushiro asked quietly.

"Oh!" I said. "You don't speak English. I'm so stupid. How did I forget?"

"You're not stupid, I was just asking because" he started, but I cut him off.

"I'll translate, how's that sound?" I asked.

He shifted a little uncomfortably at my close proximity, but eventually met my eye. "Sounds good, Mimi."

"Excellent," I said with a smile. So we sat like that the entire show, with me whispering the story of the young lion growing to be king in his ear. At the final curtain, I stood and stretched my arms up to the sky. "That was great."

"It was," Koushiro agreed quietly.

"It's over?" Jou asked.

"You're awake!" I exclaimed.

"You could have woke me up at least," Jou whined.

"You looked dead, Jou," I said in my usual brutally honest way. "You need to sleep more. A year is too long to go with only a few hours rest at a time."

"I know, but this is what I need to do," he said. "Was the show good at least?"

Koushiro flushed bright red before replying with "Best play I've ever seen."

I sent him my famous dazzling smile…

* * *

><p>"Which you are no stranger to," I told my audience with a wink, before turning to my risotto. I'd been working away on it as I talked, and it was just finishing. I carefully dished it out with my salmon, and presented the dish to the audience. "And there you go, a simple meal you'll just love. And with that our time is coming to an end."<p>

"No!" Elliot, Louisa and Kana shouted.

"What happened next?" Yamato asked with a snicker. Clearly he found social issues to be hilarious.

"It doesn't matter about that," Iori said. "Are you finished is what I'd like to know?"

"Just about," I said. "Before we go, I'll wrap up my part of the story. So the show ended, and we…

* * *

><p>"I can't stay awake much more," Jou said.<p>

"It is getting late," I commented. Their flight had not been an early one. "We should head back to my place."

"We're staying at your house?" Koushiro asked with a little squeak in his voice.

"Yeah, I didn't want you to be stuck in a hotel across town," I said. "And with my plans missing out on sleeping, I figure I can make up for that by having everyone in one easy location. I can wake you all up early tomorrow and we can start the grand tour."

"And what was this?" Jou asked.

"The bonus sneak preview," I said with a wink. And I got us a cab back to my place.

**Next Time on How Iori Met Their Mother:** Someone else tells the story. This next time thing is kinda pointless on this story huh?


	4. A Heated Dinner

**Y/N: **Urazamay wrote this one…and I have to say it makes up for my chapter in the humour department, that's for sure!

**U/N: **uhm... i wrote this chapter... i have nothing else to say... i didn't know what was going to happen... and it basically became a very long angry conversation... yay!

**Title: ****How Iori Met Their Mother**

**By: Yukira and Urazamay King**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.**

**Part 4: A Heated Dinner**

_**Mimi:**_

"Tune in next week where we'll have a little less story and a lot more cooking," I told the camera with a wink. And with that the episode came to a close.

The audience burst into applause, and I flashed them another smile, before picking up my phone, turning it off of speaker, and walked backstage.

"Who's telling the story next?" I asked them.

"I would actually like to do that…" Iori said grumbling a bit.

"No, no," Yamato said. "You'll just skip over everything interesting, like lunch the next day. The one time we were all together."

"I'm telling them how I met their mother!" Iori exclaimed. "I don't need all of this background stuff."

"It's filler," I said. "Every good story has some."

"At this point it's mostly filler," he mumbled.

"Now now," I said just a tad patronizingly. "Whatever will the kids think?"

Said children were giggling.

I heard a distant knocking.

"Who is it now?" Iori groaned.

"I took the liberty to tell Willis what we were doing. He was with Hikari, and the two of them decided they'd join us," Yamato explained.

"How did you do that?" Iori asked a touch annoyed. "We were using _your_ phone to talk with Mimi."

"You're still using that phone to talk to Mimi," I reminded him. The giggles returned.

"I used yours," Yamato said. "Willis texted you about coming over anyway. I gave them a little more insentive."

"We're here!" Willis shouted from the doorway. "Hello Iori, hello Yamato, hello children."

"Hello Mimi," I finished for him.

"Mimi's on the phone? Oh, well, hello Mimi then," he rectified.

"Hello everyone," Hikari said happily.

"Hello," the children chorused. They were just so cute.

"So, where are you?" Willis asked.

"Well, I'm at the studio actually…" I said with a smile. "But you can talk about the restaurant trip, or whatever Hikari was up to that day…."

"Alright then," Willis said. "We were in New York, at Mimi's house…."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Willis:<em>**

We had all met up at Mimi's house after the day was through. It was a good thing that Michael and I had been with Iori and Daisuke otherwise they never would have found the place. I was however confused how Takeru, Hikari, Yamato, Taichi, Sora, Miyako, Ken, and Meiyomon found their way here without the help of one of us American Digidestined. But there they were, sitting on the beige carpet in Mimi's sitting room, their luggage surrounding them as they sorted out whose was whose.

"I thought we were going to my house..." Michael muttered under his breath. I just ignored him because it didn't really matter where we were staying.

"Girls!" Mimi's mother called out suddenly, "I have set up Mimi's master bedroom as a perfectly comfortable place for you all to sleep and have a lovely slumber party together." Her hands were framing her face and she looked very pleased with her work. "Boys, you get the cellar. Sometimes it leaks... let me know if it does. Also, there are no more blankets or air mattresses so you're going to have to sleep on the cold stone floor—"

"Mom!" Mimi shot.

"Fine... I'll set up the Guest Room." Mimi's mom stalked off down the hallway.

* * *

><p>"Where we were sleeping is of next to no importance." Iori interrupted. "Just skip ahead."<p>

"No," Yamato said quickly, "This was a fun night. He should talk about it!"

"Go on with the story!" Elliot insisted.

* * *

><p>"Girls!" Mimi yelled jumping to her feet. "Let's go to my room!"<p>

"Why?" Miyako asked laying back on the carpeted floor.

"Because we're going to have a slumber party!" Mimi cheered.

"But what about supper?" Sora asked.

"We'll have supper after we do each other's hair!" Mimi said a bright smile spreading across her face.

"I'm not really feeling up to it." Hikari said, placing her hand on her forehead.

Mimi growled loudly, "We are all going to my bedroom and we are going to braid each other's hair and talk about boys!" She took a breath and then glared at each female in the room individually. "We will have fun—and you will _stop_ being sick! LET'S MOVE OUT!" She suddenly stopped growling and smiled as the girls all jumped to their feet, "Don't forget your luggage and such ladies!" She skipped off and the girls all scrambled quickly to gather their things and then ran off after Mimi.

I watched as Michael's girlfriend whose name I always got wrong awkwardly followed the group of friends as they headed to Mimi's room.

"Tanya looks sad." I pointed out.

"Yeah you're right..." Michael nodded, understanding who I was talking about even though I was pretty confident that that wasn't her real name. "She does. I wonder why."

"Maybe because you won't let her speak to anyone." Iori pointed out as he too got to his feet.

"That's not true!" Michael insisted as he got to his feet too thinking that Iori was trying to look threatening. Michael stepped toward the younger boy and stared down at him. Iori was still shorter than Michael, still shorter than most of us, but he certainly had grown quite a lot since I had met him.

"Well why is it that every time I try to introduce myself to her you hide her from me?" Iori asked.

"I don't." Michael said menacingly moving, if possible, even closer toward Iori.

Koushiro jumped to his feet and jumped between the two boys pushing them away from each other before they could start a fight. I had to admit I was kind of disappointed. A fight between Michael and Iori would have been hilarious and entertaining... but it was probably better that way anyway.

"Stop being children." Koushiro ordered, "Michael you're wrong, Iori there's no real need to talk to her anyway."

"What why?" Iori asked.

"Are you saying that my girlfriend isn't worthy of speaking to?" Michael asked, now advancing on Koushiro who began stuttering and panicking, shaking his head frantically.

"No," Yamato said, "he's worried that Iori's going to get more points than him in the game."

"And he should be." Iori smirked, elbowing Koushiro playfully in the ribs.

"What?" I asked, "What game?"

"They suck at talking to people." Taichi, who was sitting next to Yamato, explained. "So they're trying to see who can talk to people more."

"I'm going to make it a habit to not talk to either of you." I laughed, "That's a dumb game... and actually if you tell people about it they're just going to be hurt. It's mean to talk to people only to win a game."

Koushiro and Iori looked to each other with sad eyes. They knew I had a point. Suddenly though, they both shrugged their shoulders and sat back down.

Ken giggled to himself from right next to them, "you two are incorrigible!"

"No—No, I'm not incorrigible." Koushiro said flatly, "Only Iori is. He's incorrigible."

"At least I'm not a know it all." Iori said, turning his back on Koushiro.

"Oh so you're pouting now?" Koushiro asked, "I thought you had been working on being more mature since our last trip to the digital world. Isn't that what Armadillomon wanted? Didn't he tell you to forgive and forget? To grow up and to be the person you were supposed to become?" I could tell that Koushiro had gone too far, I would probably have punched him right there and then if he had done something like that to me... using my digimon against me—and then I started laughing to myself. Everyone looked to me but then just ignored me, likely thinking I had gone insane.

Iori rounded on Koushiro and practically growled, "Didn't Tentomon want you to never stop learning? Well it seems to me like you're too busy flirting with Mimi to get the chance to learn anything except for what perfume she uses."

"I don't care about Mimi." Koushiro said flatly.

"Oh really?" Jou asked groggily, finally waking up, "That's not what it looked like all day today."

"Jou—" Koushiro warned.

"See?" Iori asked, "you're too busy with girls to learn. You're changing and you're stupid."

"I'm smarter than you." Koushiro snapped.

"Maybe, but at the rate you're going I'll catch up pretty quickly." Iori snarled.

"I'm smarter than both of you!" Ken added. Then, as the two of them glared at him he retracted backwards into the corner of the room, "Sorry... I wanted to be included."

"I'm smarter—" Koushiro started.

"For now!" Iori repeated, at this I started laughing harder but the others ignored me this time.

"But—"

"Guys!" Takeru shouted "Stop arguing!"

"Takeru is right!" Taichi called out, "We're supposed to be on vacation! A time for friends to be having fun together!"

"So shove a sock in it!" Yamato finished.

Silence filled the room except for my hysterical laughing and everyone slowly turned towards me and stared for a moment or two before Jou finally spoke. "What is so funny?"

"They're worse at fighting than Terriermon and Lopmon!" I managed to say while laughing.

"That's not funny." Takeru pointed out.

"I'm not bad at arguing!" Koushiro and Iori growled.

"You know..." Taichi said slowly, "I remember once when Agumon was in the real world and Mom had cooked us dinner, she had cooked a completely separate meal for Agumon and he didn't like it... he wanted the rice that she cooked for the rest of us... and the two of them started arguing and it went on for hours! It was pretty funny."

"I remember Patamon and Veemon had an amusing argument once too!" Takeru exclaimed, "They were fighting over which one was going to go with Gatomon to gather food for that picnic... but while they were arguing she just left with Armadillomon and Hawkmon..."

Complete silence filled the room this time as we all started thinking about our digimon... it wasn't a bad silence though... it was filled with memories and—

* * *

><p>"LAME!" Elliot interjected.<p>

"It's not lame!" Louisa argued with her brother, "They missed their friends!"

"Well why were they missing their past arguments?" Elliot asked, "Real friends and family don't argue."

"Yes they do!" Lousia snapped.

"Uh, no Lousisa... they don't."

"YES!" Lousia yelled loudly. "I'M OLDER THAN YOU! SO I'M RIGHT! YOU'RE WRONG!"

"GUYS!" Kana called out, "Stop arguing!"

"Arguing?" Elliot asked, "Huh... I guess you were right Lousia. Family's do argue..."

"Ha!" Lousia smirked, "I'm awesome."

"Anyway..." Hikari said, "Continue?" she asked me and I nodded.

* * *

><p>Eventually Jou spoke, pulling us out of our trance, "Where the heck is Daisuke?"<p>

We all looked around the room in confusion.

"I thought we had gone a ridiculously long time without hearing a crappy joke..." Yamato said, causing the rest of us to snicker. "I bet he's gone to spy on the girls."

"The last time I saw him was at the restaurant." I told them.

"Do you think he stayed there?" Iori, who had been with me, asked, "He did seem to still be hungry..."

"What?" Taichi asked, "When was this?"

"Earlier today." I told them. And then Iori and I explained all about earlier that day at the restaurant and all the spying.

* * *

><p>"Hold up," Yamato said, "We didn't tell them about that."<p>

I groaned, "That just makes my story so much longer... fine I'll explain."

"No!" Hikari smiled, "I want to do that. Just finish this and I'll tell them later."

"But it isn't important!" Iori sighed, "I'm trying to tell them how—"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "We'll get to your part."

Iori pouted and leaned back in his chair. "Come on dad..." Kana said, "It's an interesting story, I promise we will listen very closely to your part of the story when we finally get there."

"Thank you honey," Iori smiled. Kana rolled her eyes as Lousia and Elliot laughed at Iori.

* * *

><p>So we eventually made our way to the dining table where Mimi's mother had set out a large meal. Mimi's house reminded me of a mansion, and her dining room looked really fancy. The walls were painted a boring eggshell colour, and the floor was hardwood. The table was longer than even Michael's and would easily fit all of us. There was a fancy chandelier above the table with glass pieces hanging off of it and—<p>

* * *

><p>"Sounds great," Elliot said sarcastically... "Move on?"<p>

* * *

><p>We all sat down on one side waiting for the girls to come from their pre-slumber-party-party, and when they did I couldn't help but laugh, the others tried to hide their laughter, resulting in many snorts, but Takeru actually spit his water across the room. The girls were all dressed in frilly princess like dresses each a different colour. They're hair looked like they were each in a different time period ranging from the middle ages to the eighties to modern day (Sora's hair was too short to put up in a fancy way). But I stopped laughing when I noticed that each of their dresses matched the necklaces around their neck. Each necklace had a coloured stone surrounded by the crest of each digidestined, other than Theresa... or whatever her name was... who was wearing a gaudy heart necklace that Michael had given her.<p>

Each of them awkwardly sat down, looking more embarrassed than I had ever seen them except for Mimi who was smiling broadly. "We're here today to—"

"Eat." Michael cut in, saving us all from one of Mimi's speeches. She looked put out but she quickly got over it as we all scooped food onto our plates.

"Where's Daisuke?" Sora asked from next to Yamato as Mimi passed her a large bowl of peas.

"Missing in action." Yamato responded. He was sitting right next to me. On my other side was Takeru who was slowly moving away from me as if I didn't notice it. Next to him was the end of the table where Taylor and Michael sat.

"That's sad..." Sora admitted, not showing any sign of sadness.

"Mimi can I change out of this—?" Hikari started.

"NO!" Mimi demanded.

"Mimi I think I'm going to die." Hikari said, "It's so tight and I can barely breathe as it is." Hikari, who was sitting right across from me reached toward her back to try and untie the bow on the back.

"Oh alright..." Mimi sighed, "If it's that painful."

"I can't reach it..." Hikari said, "Can someone help?"

I stood up and made to walk around but Takeru was already running toward her so I sat back down and allowed him to untie it. As he did so he stared between the space between Hikari's side and her arm, glaring right at me. I just looked away uncomfortably and looked to Mimi who moved toward Hikari helping her to the bedroom so she could change.

Takeru made his way to his seat and as he sat down he slid his chair even further away from me. He scowled at me for a moment but I didn't look toward him... I didn't want him to know I knew he hated me. I didn't hate him, and I he had no reason to hate me... as far as I knew. There was a silence and Iori filled it. He was sitting at one end of the table with Miyako and Ken sitting across from each other on either side of him flirting silently with each other. The only chair between Miyako and Sora was an empty one that was meant to be filled by Daisuke. Ken was next to Jou who was sleeping on the empty porcelain plate that had been set out in front of him. Jou had been sitting next to Mimi, but was now just an empty chair, and next to the chair was Koushiro, then Hikari's chair, Taichi and finally Tina and Michael.

"Hello—" Iori was clearly talking to Tina.

"Koushiro why are you watching Mimi?" Michael cut Iori off. Iori muttered a quiet "I told you so..."

"I'm not." Koushiro said. "Mimi is not here any longer."

"But she totally walked away and you watched her go." Michael explained, "I thought you said you hated her."

"I never said I hated her!" Koushiro argued.

"Yes you did..." Taichi said slowly.

"No—I said that I didn't care about her!" Koushiro exclaimed.

"Care about who?" Mimi asked as she and Hikari came back around the corner, Hikari dressed in a simple pink sundress, her hair falling around her shoulders and pinned back with a pink hair clip.

"You!" Koushiro yelled. Slamming his fists to the table.

"Excuse me?" Mimi asked loudly.

"I just meant that—" Koushiro started.

"I know what you meant." Mimi growled, "You're just shy and unsure of emotions towards your friends. It's just rude for Michael to be playing with your feelings."

Koushiro looked lost for words and as I turned towards Michael I laughed, so was he.

"You're mad at... me?" Michael asked.

Mimi nodded and sat down.

"I'm sorry Mimi!"

"So Iori," Mimi said, ignoring Michael, "I actually have nothing to talk about I just want to show Michael that I'm giving him the silent treatment."

"Mimi!" Michael sighed. Tabatha and Michael began whispering away to each other about Mimi.

"Does no one feel bad at all that Daisuke isn't here?" Taichi asked.

Before anyone could answer Iori called out "Ken! That's _my_ foot!"

"And you waited ten minutes to tell me that?" Ken asked loudly causing Miyako to burst into laughter. Ken looked embarrassed but slowly started laughing as well. Iori looked toward Trina and tried once more to talk to her, "I'm—"

"Sora I like your hair!" Michael yelled out.

"Stop that!" Iori yelled, "I just want to meet your freaking girlfriend!"

"Michael," Trina said, "Hell—"

"Wait..." Iori said, stopping himself from meeting the girl, "Where's Meiyomon?"

A loud boom sounded and we all jumped to our feet. Iori led the way as most of us ran off towards the window of the sitting room. We looked outside and in the small yard that Mimi had Meiyomon was walking dizzily around, his clothing and the grass around him singed. He looked to us and smiled, waving.

"What a dork..." Iori sighed.

"Bed time!" Mimi's mom called out, running in and waving her hands. "Everyone go! Boys follow me!"

"But—" Iori tried.

"But nothing." Mimi's mother warned. "Whatever it is, it can wait until morning." Iori groaned, but followed the woman as the rest of us followed suit.

**Next Time on How Iori Met Their Mother:** Someone else tells the story. This next time thing is kinda pointless on this story huh?


	5. A Stalking Walk

**Y/N: **Urazamay wrote this one…and we go back in time a few hours, so keep that in mind!

**U/N: **This chapter was... super hard to write, i was unmotivated and unhappy when i wrote it, and the unhappy part kind of shows as you go toward the end... This is where you find out exactly where Daisuke went, and although, because it's Daisuke, it should be funny, but it's not... where he went is not funny. Also, i dunno if we've told anyone this but i'm going to because i want to... There are only going to be six chapters of this story, and it's literally the most fillery filler story ever. But one or two days after the sixth chapter goes up we'll start uploading 04 (or we might wait for a wednesday or saturday, depending on how things work out...) point being, you'll have an actual story-story to read soon... and it's kind of epic. just saying.

**Title: ****How Iori Met Their Mother**

**By: Yukira and Urazamay King**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.**

**Part 5: A Stalking Walk**

_**Willis:**_

"Okay, so finally I get to tell my part!" Iori smiled.

"No!" Lousia growled, "You've forgotten that you promised to allow Hikari to tell us what happened at the restaurant."

"I promised nothing." Iori growled.

I looked toward Hikari who looked rather upset that she wasn't going to be allowed to tell her part of the story. "Iori, just wait fifteen more minutes."

"But..." Iori sighed.

"Please?" Hikari pleaded.

"Oh fine..." Iori sighed. "Go ahead."

"Why are you so willing to allow her to tell the story?" Yamato asked, "When I wanted to you looked like you wanted to destroy me!"

"I don't want to destroy you." Iori said, "But Hikari is sickly."

"She hasn't been sick for seventeen years Iori." Yamato laughed.

"But there's always that chance." Iori sighed, "I don't want her to hate me and not forgive me when I plead for it on her deathbed."

"I have no problem forgiving people." Hikari said slowly.

"Yeah... I thought that was you Iori..." I said, thinking back to the old days in the digital world. We hadn't been there in a while...

"I totally got over that!" Iori laughed. "Okay Hikari... tell your story."

"Okay, so forget Willis's story for a minute and think backwards. We were in the park and then Meiyomon was hungry so Miyako, Ken, Takeru and I took him to a restaurant..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hikari:<strong>_

In the restaurant we found Willis, Iori, and Daisuke. Michael and, as Willis would call her, Talia, were sitting in a booth by themselves. They had gone there leaving Mimi, Koushiro and Jou alone, if you remember, Mimi told you what happened to them after that.

* * *

><p>"How did you know that?" Yamato asked. "You weren't even here yet!"<p>

"I saw it on Mimi's show!" Hikari giggled, "I watch it every Tuesday!"

"But it's Friday..." Elliot pointed out.

"Huh..." Hikari said, she shook her head and continued the story

* * *

><p>At first sight of the three boys Takeru groaned, "I think I'd like to leave."<p>

"What? Why?" I asked, leaning on Miyako for support. I was still pretty sick and needed to sit down, so even though Takeru wanted to leave there was no way I was going to be able to leave.

"I just... don't like Willis." Takeru responded flatly.

"And why not?" Miyako asked. "He's really nice... he bought me flowers once."

"I agree with Takeru." Ken said quickly.

"I found us a table!" Meiyomon smiled as he ran off toward his designated table. "Look it's right beside Iori!"

Miyako and I smiled at waved as the boys spotted us and then followed Meiyomon as Takeru and Ken groaned, following us unwillingly. Meiyomon pushed his chosen table over until it was right next to Iori's and then moved the chairs.

"I'm not really comfortable sitting next to Willis." Ken said as we drew nearer.

"Fine I'll do it." I offered.

"No!" Takeru said quickly. "Let me!"

"Why?" I asked, ignoring Takeru and moving to sit next to Willis. Takeru groaned and flopped down in the seat next to I. Meiyomon moved around to sit next to Daisuke and across from Iori as Miyako and Ken sat across from Takeru and I respectively.

"What are you guys doing here?" Willis asked.

"Meiyomon was hungry." Miyako explained, "We thought we'd come and feed the poor guy."

"He won't ever stop eating." Iori warned, "I'm not paying."

"No Iori, don't be silly!" Miyako smiled, "I'll be paying!" Iori said nothing, but just laughed to himself.

"What's Michael doing way over there with... what's her name?" I asked.

"Tammy," Willis told us.

"I wouldn't know," Iori said, "Michael won't let me talk to her."

"He won't let any of us talk to her." Daisuke said. "It's like he's scared we're gonna steal her from him. He's scary protective."

"I wonder if he'll let me talk to her." Miyako asked.

"Most likely." Ken asked, "Anyway—where's the waitress?"

"Hello," A very deep voice asked. We all jumped and spun around to see a very tall muscular African-American man. He was wearing a black t-shirt and had an apron around his waist. "What will you all be having today?"

"What did he say?" Iori asked Willis.

"He wants to know what you guys want to eat." Willis told us.

"Everything." Meiyomon said.

"No!" Miyako growled, "He'll have... sushi?" Willis translated for them.

"We don't have sushi..." The Waiter informed, and again Willis translated.

"Rice then?" Miyako tried.

"No..." The man said.

"Domuri?" Ken asked only to have the man shake his head.

" Onigiri?" I asked, "Kare Raisu?"

"We sell hamburgers." The man told us.

"He says he sells hamburgers." Willis laughed.

"Sure... I guess we'll have five hamburgers." Miyako settled. Willis translated.

"Alright." The man said, turning and walking off.

"What is a hamburger?" Takeru asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's like... meat on a bun." Willis informed us.

"How strange!" Miyako smiled. She placed her head in her hands, "Tell me more about American foods Willis?"

"Well—" Willis started.

"Did it just get really dark in here?" Daisuke cut across. Everyone looked around. The lights seemed to be blocked by a strange black haze and everyone else in the restaurant other than Michael and Tammy got up and left in a hurry.

"That's weird." Willis said.

"Yeah, I wonder why it's so dark..." I said.

"No, I just mean that Michael and Tamara don't seem to have noticed it." Willis said.

"I thought her name was Tammy?" Miyako asked.

"Oh I have no idea what her name is." Willis laughed. Miyako, Daisuke, Iori and I laughed with him, but Takeru and Ken just rolled their eyes.

"I think I just figured out why it got so dark..." Daisuke said slowly. "Look!"

We all looked to where he was pointing and gasped. Kurayami was sitting at a table in the corner with a small woman taking her order.

"What's she doing here?" Miyako asked, shocked.

"She's probably hungry." Daisuke said.

"That can't be it!" Ken insisted.

"Not everything she does has to be evil you know." Daisuke said, "She's actually a really nice girl."

"If she wasn't planning on being evil then why did she take her dark shroud along with her Daisuke?" Iori joked.

"She just can't help it!" Daisuke insisted.

"It's like me!" I said, "I glow when I feel light. Light is just emotion, so whenever she feels a negative emotion or is emotionless or however her crest works, the dark shroud appears I guess." I thought it made sense. That's how my light worked... and I could only assume hers worked the same.

"Then she's angry!" Miyako pointed out, "That's a negative emotion."

"Or she's feeling envious..." Ken added.

"Or shy or greedy or—" Willis started.

"Or sad." Daisuke and I said together.

We all slowly looked back to her. She was sitting only seven empty tables away from us in the large old styled restaurant. Kurayami and the waitress were getting really frustrated with each other and the room seemed to be growing darker and darker until Kurayami jumped to her feet and stormed off, toward the door.

"We have to follow her." I said quickly, jumping to my feet.

"That's kind of rude Hikari..." Takeru pointed out.

"And dangerous." Ken added.

"Also we just ordered food."

"Yeah! I'm hungry!" Meiyomon sighed, "Like, _really_ hungry."

Miyako looked to her wallet, "Let's go Hikari." Miyako grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet and started dragging me off.

"Hey!" Iori yelled, "I don't want to pay for this!" Iori growled. "Miyako!"

Miyako and I hurried out the door and moved swiftly down the street. I was already exhausted and the sun was beating down hard on us. The sidewalks were crowded with people and it would have been nearly impossible to find Kurayami if it had not been for the strange shroud above her head.

"Let's go." Miyako smiled, pulling me through the people, being pushy and rude, something Miyako was pretty good at.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling her you said that!" Willis laughed.<p>

"Oh go ahead," I laughed, "I'm fairly certain she won't mind. She takes pride in her bossiness."

"That she does." Iori agreed, "One time—"

"Iori," Yamato warned, "We're trying to tell a story."

Iori rounded on Yamato, "Oh really—

* * *

><p>"Why is she so scared?" Miyako asked as the two of us watched her cross the street. She was looking over her shoulder and down the street, and moving quickly to get off of the road.<p>

I knew why she was so scared. I remembered from the strange cave of memories in the dark ocean... her brother had been killed by getting hit by a car while crossing the street. From what I gathered she wasn't born until after the death of her older brother, but her mother would have warned her about the dangers of the road. Her mother... where was her mother? If her grandfather lived in Japan then why was she here? It must have been her mother. Perhaps we were just following Kurayami to her home. That seemed much less fun than I had hoped.

"Hikari?" A voice asked. I screamed and jumped around to see Daisuke, Ken and Takeru.

"Calm down," Takeru laughed, "it's just us."

"Come on, we'll miss the light." Miyako said taking Ken's hand and running after Kurayami. I nodded and followed her, assuming that Takeru and Daisuke would follow behind us.

"Where do you think she's going?" Takeru asked as we crossed the street.

"Probably home." I admitted.

No one said anything more as the five of us followed Kurayami through the streets of New York. I knew we were going to get lost, and I knew we probably should have taken Willis with us because he knew his way around this city, but it was too late to go back and get him. I really wanted to know what was going on with Kurayami. I wanted to prove that she wasn't doing an evil deed... that she wasn't as bad as everyone thought she was. Only Daisuke, Takeru and I had seen her open up... the others just wouldn't understand.

As time went on I grew more and more unbalanced and dizzy, but Daisuke was right there, helping me stand. I was happy that he was helping me, he reminded me of Taichi a lot. He still wore goggles, his hair was messy, and as weird as it was, he even smelled like Taichi. I could tell that Takeru was a little upset that I wasn't using him as a support, but he would have to get over that. He was still my best friend, but I didn't need to spend every minute with him.

"She's going there." Ken said suddenly pointing across the road at a large store with only one small window. The walls of the store were made of stone and the roof was red shingles.

"Why?" Miyako asked.

"I can't read her mind darling." Ken said.

"Are we going to keep following her?" Daisuke asked me. I nodded. I was tired, and felt like I was going to pass out... but I still wanted to follow her.

"What's the store called?" I asked. No one could read it so we hurried across the road and down the sidewalk a bit and stared at the sign for a minute.

Finally we all just started laughing. "We can't read English guys." Daisuke said, pointing out the obvious. He looked into the store and gasped. "She's coming! Hide!"

We all hurried around the side of the store and into a damp alley way as a bell sounded and Kurayami left the store. We peeked around the corner after a minute and watched her hurry off the other direction.

"What did she do?" Miyako asked, running out onto the sidewalk and into the store Kurayami had just come from. Daisuke and I followed her as fast as I could go. As we stepped in through the wooden door I gasped. It was like walking into a wall of scents. It smelled wonderful and it took me a moment to take in what was surrounding us.

Flowers. Flowers everywhere...

"Why would Kurayami want flowers?" Daisuke asked slowly looking to me for answers. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea.

"I'll bet she bought black ones." Miyako ran up to the desk where an Asian looking woman was standing. "Excuse me, what kind of flowers did the girl who was just in here buy?"

* * *

><p>"Pretty lucky that it was a Japanese woman." Lousia said. All three of the children were sitting on the edge of their seats, each of them curious to know where Kurayami was going.<p>

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" I said.

* * *

><p>The woman began speaking English, most likely telling us that she couldn't speak Japanese. She held up her finger telling us to wait for a moment. She ran off and we stood by the counter until the woman ran back with an American man.<p>

"Hello!" The man said in Japanese. "Are you Japanese?"

Miyako nodded, "Yup!"

"There was a girl in here a minute ago," Daisuke said, "What flowers did she buy?"

The man turned to the Asian woman and translated the question before turning back to us and telling us that she bought a large bouquet of pink roses.

"Thank you..." I said slowly as we all returned to the sidewalk outside the store where Takeru and Ken were waiting for us.

"What's in there?" Takeru asked, "Ken and I took a bet. I think it's a book store filled with books about death."

"And I think she bought some torture devices." Ken said.

Miyako punched Ken in the arm the same time I punched Takeru's arm.

"Flowers." Daisuke answered. "She bought pink flowers." Ken and Takeru looked to each other and started laughing. "It's not really that funny."

"No, just surprising." Ken said.

"But why does she want them?" Takeru asked.

"Well, let's follow her." Miyako said, and we all nodded in agreement. "Ken, Takeru, where did she go?"

Takeru and Ken led the way at a brisk pace, we had to keep up, we had wasted time in the flower shop and—

* * *

><p>"You're making it seem like it's some sort of Detective case." Willis laughed.<p>

"Well it's more exciting that way!" Yamato pointed out, "Just let her finish. I've never actually listened to this story... I want to know where Kurayami went!"

* * *

><p>We finally caught up to her as she was walking through a large black gate that said something in American. The gate led into a grassy area that looked at first sight to be a park. I looked up to Kurayami and I could see the bundle of roses in her hands.<p>

"What's she doing?" Miyako asked Ken, "You're the detective—you figure it out!"

"I'm no detective!" Ken argued.

"You want to be!" Daisuke insisted.

"Let's just follow and find out?" Takeru suggested.

"Takeru's right." I said, "Let's go."

We hurried through the gate and up the small grassy hill that Kurayami had just gone over. Once we reached the top of the hill we saw Kurayami standing next to a man underneath a tree. The man looked a lot like her, but it was clear that he was older.

"Is that her brother?" Daisuke asked, clearly hoping she didn't have a boyfriend.

"Her brother is dead." I told them.

"How is it the two of you have all of this information about her?" Takeru asked Daisuke and I.

"I'll tell you later." I said.

"Graveyard..." Ken said slowly.

"What's that honey?" Miyako asked.

"Look at all the stones everywhere." Ken said, "It's a graveyard. If what Hikari says is true, then she's laying flowers down at her brother's grave.

I started walking forward, and Daisuke was coming with me. I wasn't sure if it was just to keep my balance or if he too wanted to go comfort her. I knew that admitting that we had been stalking her would be a little weird, but I wanted her to know that she had friends.

Miyako, Takeru and Ken stayed back as the two of us walked down the hill and toward Kurayami and the man. As we moved closer I saw Kurayami lay the flowers down on the grave and then turn toward the man.

She flung herself at him and hugged him around the waist, crying. Her head was turned away from us but I could hear her sobbing.

Daisuke and I stood awkwardly as she cried. I noticed that the man was crying too.

"Daddy..." She said slowly, looking up at him as the shroud around her grew darker than I had seen it since we had been in the digital world. "I miss her."

I felt a pang in my heart as I realized that it wasn't just her brother who she was laying the flowers down for... but her mother. Thunder cracked in the distance and it began to rain as we watched her.

"We should go..." I said finally. It wasn't right to intrude on their moment.

"You go..." Daisuke said, "I want to talk to her."

I nodded, it was his choice. "Good luck." I turned dizzily toward the others and began to work my way up the hill. I knew somehow that Kurayami had made it rain. I knew that it was because she was sad... and I couldn't blame her. Her mother was dead... and so was her brother. As I reached the top of the hill and Takeru moved forward to help me stand I thought of my life without my mother... and without Taichi. I thought to what it would be like if they had died. I hugged Takeru as I started to cry

**Next Time on How Iori Met Their Mother:** Someone else tells the story. This next time thing is kinda pointless on this story huh?


	6. A Fate Encounter

**Y/N: **This is the final installment of How Iori Met Their Mother. We realize this isn't as interesting as D03 was, but we were using it to help us get into character for D04…since it takes place a few years later. The characters have all aged up some more, and this is our transition, making them seem more believable while being more mature. I hope you enjoy this final chapter, and I hope you tune in to see what happens in Digimon Adventure 04!

**U/N: **I have hardly anything to say here except that I hope you find the ending amusing and not stupid… or both—both would be okay. But… enjoy!

**Title: ****How Iori Met Their Mother**

**By: Yukira and Urazamay King**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or its characters.**

**Part 6: A Fate Encounter**

_**Hikari:**_

"I thought you said you didn't know where Daisuke went." Iori said.

"Well I lied." I admitted. "That's really all I have to say."

"We probably should have let Hikari tell her story first." Yamato laughed, "It takes place first."

"Yeah well... it's too late now." Willis said.

"What happened next Hikari?" Lousia asked, a box of tissues in her hand as she mopped up the tears that were pouring from her green eyes.

"Please refer back to Willis's part." Kana said, "We don't need a retelling."

"I agree with Kana, It's getting late." Elliot said, "Let's just finish this story off."

Everyone turned to look at Iori.

"What?" he asked.

"Aren't you going to tell your story?" Yamato asked.

"Oh!" Iori cheered, "Really? You're finally going to let me?" We all nodded and watched as the biggest smile spread across Iori's face. Suddenly his smile fell.

"I'm going to wait five minutes." He said.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"I am confident when I say that someone else is going to arrive." Iori explained. "Taichi and Daisuke will probably come in and tell their story or something."

"Just tell the story Iori." Yamato laughed.

"Oh alright…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Iori:<strong>_

Things weren't as chaotic for the next five days or so, honestly, nothing important happened until our last day in New York…

* * *

><p>"Are you saying that this story could'a been told in ten minutes?" Elliot asked incredulously.<p>

"Pretty much," I admitted.

"Why didn't you do that?" he asked.

"Because I kept getting interrupted," I said glaring at my interrupters.

"No," Kana said. "It was because there was so many cute details that we would have missed if he did."

"It was just so beautiful at the theatre and heartbreaking at the graveyard," Louisa said agreeing wholeheartedly with Kana.

I rolled my eyes, and continued the story.

* * *

><p>Taichi followed Hikari around all the time, afraid that <em>she<em> might get 'hugged' or something else that would just add to her sickness. Sora tried really hard to get Taichi to let up a little, while spending some romantic time with Yamato and some group time with the rest of us. Koushiro totally lost our competition, after practically refusing to talk to anyone after I accused him of liking Mimi…and everyone else agreed. I won in a landslide.

* * *

><p>"We still don't care…" Kana said with a bored sigh.<p>

* * *

><p>Jou slept a lot…but he also fought a dragon…<p>

* * *

><p>"What?" Yamato, Willis, Hikari and the children shouted in surprise.<p>

"I do _not_ remember that happening," Yamato continued.

"Shut up and listen," I told him.

* * *

><p>We went to a sort of petting zoo, I guess you'd call it… In any case, they had horses people could ride for a small fee. And Mimi demanded that we partake in this venture… Well, Jou fell asleep while <em>on<em> the horse, and he swore he was fighting a dragon, and was defeated, resulting with him falling off of the horse. Of course it turned out to be a dream, but it was a hilarious addition to my total for the game if I do say so myself.

Takeru avoided Willis as much as possible, while trying to keep Hikari with him and away from Taichi as well. Willis of course, tried to spend a lot of time with Hikari just to spite him it seemed. Needless to say Takeru didn't enjoy a lot of the trip. Daisuke actually figured out where we were by midday the day following their trip to the graveyard I guess. He stayed the night at her place, which now makes more sense…knowing that he didn't literally hunt her down just to do that, I mean. They'd met up in the cemetery and all…

Meiyomon finally figured out that blowing stuff up was simply _not_ okay no matter where on Earth he was…though he did cost quite a bit of money in the food department.

Miyako and Ken were completely disgusting to me, with my new philosophy of staying away from girls and all, since Noriko smashed that dream out of me. But they were very lovey-dovey about their relationship and were always hand in hand even while they were eating.

* * *

><p>"Well that's just not true," Hikari said.<p>

"So I was exaggerating," I said. "It sure seemed that way sometimes."

* * *

><p>Mostly though, the reason that the rest of the week doesn't matter in the slightest, is because after that dinner, Michael just seemed to disappear. And along with him, was his girlfriend…<p>

Now, we were at the park just one last time before we were to leave New York, and Mimi was not taking it very well.

"I d-don't w-want you t-t-to g-go!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

* * *

><p>"Way to make me sound pathetic Iori…" Mimi said suddenly. Everyone looked at the coffee table in shock. "Yeah…. I'm still here. And I also don't appreciate being portrayed like a blubbering baby."<p>

"Well, if the shoe fits," Willis said, causing the children to roar with laughter.

* * *

><p>Koushiro looked really uncomfortable actually, as she clung to his and Jou's arms as though they were lifelines. Jou was a little drowsy of course, so it was probably all that was keeping him upright.<p>

"We have to go, Mimi," Sora said trying to reason with her. A woman carrying a crying small child walked passed us, waking Jou up. He stared at the kid as though it was responsible…which of course it was…for waking him.

"B-but what if I never s-see y-you agai-ain?" Mimi sobbed.

"You'll see us," Taichi said. "We're all friends. We can't turn our back on our friends…"

"But Michael al-already d-did," she pointed out.

"Michael is a moron," Koushiro and I said as one, cancelling the words out on our tally…which I was winning…

* * *

><p>"You said that already dad," Kana complained.<p>

"I was very proud of it…"

* * *

><p>"He's just jealous of Iori anyway," Miyako said. Ken rolled his eyes.<p>

"Not that it makes sense anyway," he said.

"I am a likeable person," I said glaring at him. Not my best moment actually….

"The minute Iori's gone, he'll come flocking back," Willis said, agreeing with Miyako.

"B-but, what if h-he doesn't?" she said, letting out a loud wail.

"Then you'll just have to survive with Willis," Hikari said, sending him an encouraging smile. "You could do much worse you know."

"Yeah," Daisuke said lacking tact as usual. "You could end up old and alone."

"And you want him for your sister?" Yamato asked Taichi with a raised eyebrow. I had to hold back my shock. Why Daisuke?

"I trust him to take care of her," Taichi said. "He's like me, her health and happiness is the most important thing to him. And he's kind of in love with her, so he won't have the same issue I had with Sora. I mean how do you ignore her when _she's_ the one you're in love with?"

"He's still a moron," Yamato conceded.

"I knew it!" Mimi cried over their discussion, having been more focused on what Daisuke said. "I j-just knew it."

"Daisuke doesn't know what he's talking about," Jou said sending him an exasperated look. A couple walked by with a set of twins in a stroller. They were tiny, must have been a couple of months at most.

"Oh, they are just so cute," Mimi said, and we all sighed in relief. She was distracted—at least for a moment—from our impending departure.

"They are," Jou agreed.

"I'm cuter though, right?" Meiyomon said grabbing hold of my hand.

Yamato snorted. "Sure, kid."

Meiyomon simply grinned. I have a feeling though, that if Yamato hadn't agreed, he might have been tempted to blow the stroller up or something. And that would have been worse than bad. It would have been a catastrophe.

* * *

><p>"Worse than that even," Elliot agreed with a chuckle.<p>

"It would have been the worst thing to ever happen ever," Louisa added horrified at the thought.

"Well, that's Mieyomon for you," I said with an amused sigh.

* * *

><p>"Seriously, what is with all the kids?" Taichi asked, as a group of daycare kids walked across the path attached on a rope.<p>

"So there's a few of them," Yamato said with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly, there's more than that," Taichi said, looking pointedly at another mother holding a baby on one hip, while holding a toddler's hand.

"So there's a few more than a few of them," Yamato said shrugging his shoulders.

"There's a baby duck even," Jou pointed out, almost cooing at it as it struggled to keep up with its mother. Just a few seconds later, a group of seven more ducklings came out from the bushes, trying to catch up with their brother.

I snickered at Jou's awed face. He turned around a saw that everyone—aside from the two of us—suddenly had a kitten in their hands, leaving only an empty box marked "Free Kittens" on the side of the pathway.

"Everyone has a baby except me," Jou whined. I didn't bother to point out that I _also_ did not have a kitten, but that's beside the point. "I want one too."

"Here," Yamato said, passing his kitten off. "We don't have long to play with them anyway."

I glanced at my watch, and found he was right. We had only an hour to get to the airport, give or take a few minutes.

* * *

><p>"We needed to be there three hours before the flight and all…but I already explained this stuff…" I trailed off.<p>

"Yeah, and we said it was boring," Elliot pointed out. Yamato and Willis started snickering.

"I guess I'll just skip that part," I said, my face flushing.

* * *

><p>So, it was time for goodbyes…and well, Mimi was taking this worse than while we were at the park. She was crying so hard she couldn't even speak. She just flung herself at each of us, one at a time.<p>

"Mimi," Hikari moaned pitifully, before trailing off into a small coughing fit. "I can't hold you up too…."

"I-I-I-I'm s-sorrrry!" she cried out. I was going to roll my eyes, but she flung herself at me before I could.

"Mimi," I groaned. "Get off."

That was a mistake… She started crying even harder than before. It didn't last long, thank goodness, as she threw herself at Sora immediately after.

"Don't leave yet!" a female yelled out. "I want to say goodbye."

I turned around, to see Michael being dragged by his girlfriend running towards us.

"Michael!" Mimi shouted happily. "You didn't leave me all alone."

"Yeah I did," he said. "I'm only back because she made me…"

That was a worse mistake than mine.

Mimi stormed over to him, and wound back her arm. And—

* * *

><p>"This is where she punched him!" Yamato interrupted.<p>

"I was going to say that," I complained.

"But it was too awesome to have it be delivered in your calm and even voice," he explained. "Isn't it funny though, Michael got punched in the face? It was so hard—or so unexpected—that he legitimately landed on the floor. It was brilliant."

"I don't think it's all that great," Louisa said with a frown.

"It would be funny…but, you know," Elliot said with a shrug.

* * *

><p>Anyway, Michael was on the floor, clutching his nose with one hand.<p>

"You are the worst Michael," Mimi yelled at him. "The very worst."

"Sorry about him," his girlfriend said, tucking a gentle curl behind her ear. "He said something about protecting me from corruption. He's just lucky my parents had plans for me this week, or _I_ might've been the one to smack him."

I chuckled. This girl was much more easygoing than Michael wanted us to believe. She was also too…laidback? She was too carefree anyway, for Michael in the first place. She could have done so much better in any case.

"I wish I could have gotten to know you all so much better," she continued. "It's too bad you're leaving already."

"Yeah, it is," Yamato said in his nothing-matters-much-because-I'm-waaaay-too-cool-for-it way.

* * *

><p>"I do <em>not<em> talk that way," Yamato insisted.

"You did," I said. Hikari, Willis and Mimi all agreed.

* * *

><p>Mimi by then had moved passed her fury at Michael, to fling herself at Taichi, Yamato, Takeru, Daisuke, and Ken, and was in the process of tackling Miyako.<p>

"I'm going to miss you most Mimi," she cried out, with tears in her eyes. Her obsession with Mimi was actually quite frightening sometimes…especially when paired with Mimi herself. It was more than frightening at that point.

Judging from the looks on both Jou and Koushiro's faces, Miyako was wrong anyway.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Jou promised, as she was thrown in his direction.

"You better be," she told him, meeting his eyes. "Or I'll have to come and get you!"

The two laughed, while Michael's girlfriend tried to bring Michael around. Apparently he couldn't handle one of Mimi's punches.

* * *

><p>"Of course not, I've got a mean right hook," Mimi said brightly.<p>

* * *

><p>"Did I forget anyone?" Mimi asked.<p>

"Well—" Jou started, only to be cut off by Meiyomon.

"Me! You're just saving me for last right?" Meiyomon said jumping at her. "Just because I'm the cutest?"

"You're not the last," Mimi said, glancing at Koushiro. "But I have to say you _are_ the cutest. The cutest digimon in the whole wide world I'd bet."

"I'll pretend that there are more than just the two of us," Meiyomon said, catching her specific wording. "But thank you."

Mimi set him down. "I'll miss you," she told him. "I'm going to miss you too," she said catching Koushiro's eye. "Don't get all embarrassed…though you are cute when you're acting all shy."

Everyone snickered as his eyes widened and his face flushed. He looked down at the floor, turning his head away from her. She went and gave him a hug—

* * *

><p>"Which he stubbornly refused to return," Mimi said interrupting again.<p>

"Mimi, _I'm_ telling the story," I said, taking on a whiny tone.

"Dad, whining doesn't get you anywhere," Kana said feeling pretty smug about throwing my philosophy back in my face.

I stubbornly stuck my tongue out her.

* * *

><p>She laughed at him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, laughing even harder when he tried to wipe it off his bright red face. "You and your social issues," she joked.<p>

"I'll take a day with my laptop over social conventions any day," he said avoiding anyone's eyes.

Which of course explained how he didn't see Mimi's hand coming to give him a great, big slap.

"Ow! What was that for?" he shouted.

"That laptop and I…we don't get along," she said with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"How many times do I have to apologize for that?" he asked. "I thought you forgave me."

"Maybe," she said evasively.

"She has," a girl whispered in my ear. "She just hates that laptop of his. She rants about it a lot. Something about him thinking it was worth more than her life."

"What do you mean?" I asked, turning and coming face to face with Michael's girlfriend.

"I don't know all the details. When she rants, you're just supposed to know what she's talking about," she said. "But she really hates that laptop. Just the one."

I nodded, and took a deep breath. This was my chance. I could finally introduce myself.

* * *

><p>"Oh!" Louisa squealed. "This is it! You finally get to meet her!"<p>

"Is introducing yourself really that important right now?" Kana asked. "I mean, it's a love story…just kiss her!"

"Yeah, do that," Louisa agreed excitedly.

Yamato and Willis started laughing at me.

"Just finish this already," Elliot said. "I don't want to hear about kissing."

* * *

><p>"Hello," I said to her. "My name is Iori Hida. It is nice to meet you."<p>

"Hi," she said with a giggle. "Is _that_ what Michael was keeping you from saying in his fit of jealousy?"

"Yes," I admitted. "I had to formally introduce myself, that's all."

"Then hello, Iori Hida, my name is Tatum Jefferson," she said with a smile.

* * *

><p>"That's not mom's name," Kana said losing all excitement she'd previously had.<p>

"I never said it was," I told her.

"But this was the story of how you met her mother," Elliot said. "Wasn't it?"

"No," I said. "This is the story of how I met _your_ mother."

"Why would that even occur to you?" Hikari asked while chuckling slightly.

"What was I supposed to do," I asked. "I'm a terrible babysitter."

"How did you like your dad getting punched in the face?" Yamato wanted to know.

"And are you disappointed that Iori didn't kiss your mom?" Willis asked, laughing freely now.

"What about mom?" Kana asked. "I want to know how you met her."

"Technically I first saw her in a hospital that was about to collapse because of a digimon attack…but I didn't actually meet her until years later," I explained.

"And what's that story?" Kana asked. "I thought this was going to be it. Though I did wonder… I don't think mom's ever been to New York…."

"She hasn't," I said. "I met her in the girl's bathroom at my secondary school the following year actually…"

"A girl's bathroom?" Elliot asked with a laugh. "That's funny."

"That's it? 'I met her in a girl's bathroom.' That's a terrible story," Kana grumbled.

There was another knock on the front door. "Come in!" Yamato called. I gave him a glare, I mean, it was _my_ house.

"Hi guys," Michael said, his arm wrapped around a familiar pretty brunette. "How was your day?"

"Dad!" Elliot and Louisa called, running to him. "Mom!"

"Hello Tatum," I said meeting her eye.

"Hello Iori," she said just as formally. "Interesting day?"

"You could say that."

**Next Time: **This story's over, but the digi-destined's story isn't. Tune in to Digimon Adventure 04 this Wednesday!


End file.
